MANAGER Russell Martin has described new under-21s head coach Simon Rusk as "one of the top developers in the country."

Former England under-19s manager Rusk has been appointed as the under-21s new boss following Adam Asghar's decision to leave the club.

Rusk spent the second half of last season working as a set-piece coach at Nottingham Forest and has prior experience at Brighton, Stockport and Hibernian.

The 42 year old retired midfielder has a strong reputation of developing players having previously worked with Ben White and Solly March at Brighton.

Saints have appointed experienced coach Simon Rusk to lead the club's top academy side Saints have appointed experienced coach Simon Rusk to lead the club's top academy side (Image: PA)

He took charge of his first game at Saints on Saturday, a 3-2 pre-season win over AFC Totton, and has made a strong early impression on Martin.

The boss said: “We have some really talented young players. In Simon Rusk, we have one of the top developers in the country.

“He did a brilliant job at Brighton for a long time in a similar role. It’s a really good group of players.

“All we ever ask from the players, be that first team, 21s or 18s, is to be brave all the time and run as hard as they can.

“Whether it’s a pre-season game or a cup final, you need the same mentality and the same approach.

“The rest will take care of itself. A lot of the guys have trained with us this past week. The other half have trained against us as the opposition.”

Saints will be looking to improve on their 17th-place finish in the PL2 last campaign, which saw them miss out on the playoffs.

Under-21s defender Zach Awe and goalkeeper Ollie Wright have already departed on loan, with others likely to follow in a bid for regular first-team exposure.

Southampton have been boosted by Dom Ballard's return to fitness following his lengthy knee injury.

The England youth international scored in his first game back from that knock which saw his time on loan at Reading cut short.