Southampton are so up for it – even on their day off, claims head coach Ronald Koeman

Saints go into Saturday’s match at home against QPR sitting second in the Premier League

Ronald Koeman believes a top-four finish ‘is not realistic’ (AP)

Southampton’s head coach, Ronald Koeman, has managed some of Europe’s biggest clubs, but never before has he had a group of players so dedicated that they asked him to train on their day off.

Those predicting a season of woe at St Mary’s could not be further off the mark, judging by Southampton’s early displays.

Saints go into Saturday’s match at home against QPR second in the Premier League and looking for a sixth successive win in all competitions, following their 2-1 defeat of Arsenal in the League Cup on Tuesday.

That result led Koeman to give his players Wednesday off, but his squad asked to come to training. That is something he has not experienced in any of his previous managerial roles at Ajax, Benfica and Valencia.

“The players showed a great ambition,” Koeman explained. “Jose Fonte said to me: ‘Boss, we would like to come to train tomorrow’.

“I said, ‘But you have a day off – I’ve planned a lot of things with my wife!’ But we changed it and we had a recovering session,” Koeman said.

“I never had that – a team, a squad say ‘no day off’. That means a lot for me, about the ambition of the players. We spoke to each other and said: ‘OK, if you win against Queen’s Park then you get that day off for next week’. We hope to win on Saturday.”

Koeman, who was in Barcelona’s defence when they won the European Cup in 1992, says reaching that competition is beyond Southampton this term.

“It isn’t realistic” he said of a top-four finish.

“We’ve played only five games in the Premier League and at the end of the season are 38.”

PA