Mark Wotte believes his side are better off without loan players as Saints prepare for the final run-in.

As many Championship clubs scrabbled around for players to try to boost their survival hopes before last Thursday’s loan deadline, Wotte was able to sit back and assess his squad.

Though he might have welcomed one player if they would have instantly improved the team, he was determined not to sign anybody just for the sake of it with finances so tight.

Instead, he insists that the fact ALL his players are playing for their own futures could be massively more beneficial than, in effect, hired guns who can return to their parent club in a month or so if things don’t work out.

He said: “It’s very important everybody who is on the pitch in the final stage has something to win for themselves towards next season.

“I always tell all the boys ‘this is the future of Southampton Football Club, the future of the people supporting the club for so many years with all it’s history and tradition, this is for my future and this is for your future."

Full story in today's Daily Echo