Mauricio Pochettino wishes he had an arm full of awards to hand out tonight after what he described as a “fantastic season” for Saints.

The club officially celebrate their record equalling eighth place Premier League finish with a glittering black tie ceremony at St Mary’s this evening.

Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez are expected to battle it out for the major individual accolades such as Player of the Season and Player’s Player of the Season.

But Pochettino insists this campaign has built on far more than one or two individuals and would like to be able to recognise that.

“It’s been more than anything about the collective,” said Pochettino.

“All the players have had a fantastic season.

“Aside from one or two players given these accolades, awards should be given to the entire team because all the players have done very well throughout the season.

“The entire team deserves these awards.”

Saints equalled another record at the weekend with a seventh away top flight win of the campaign at Swansea.

They need just a point from their final game at home to Manchester United on Saturday to secure a highest top flight points total for 29 years.

Another clean sheet in the final game will also see Saints equal their Premier League record of only 45 goals conceded, a record set in 2003/04.

Despite all of that, and the chance for a little reflection and celebration at St Mary’s this evening, modern football dictates that thoughts are already turning towards next season.

Rumours continue to circulate as to the futures of manager Pochettino and some of his prize assets such as Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren.

The ambition of the club to push forward is likely to be the deciding factor in some of that, with Pochettino and director Les Reed both having said publicly that the close season will be the time to have these discussions.

It is not until then that Pochettino will start to set targets for the next campaign.

“It’s clear that we’ve had a fantastic season,” said Pochettino.

“We have a lot of young players that are still growing, still maturing, and they need to get more and more experience.

“It’s also clear that we are playing in the Premier League, which is probably the toughest competition in the world.

“Once we realise how tough it is, which we know already, then we can set ourselves proper goals.”