Saints are set to head abroad to face two Dutch amateur sides as part of their pre-season preparations.

Ronald Koeman will take his squad away from English shores as he pieces things together ready for the new Premier League campaign.

Dates for the friendlies and the exact base for the Saints squad have yet to be confirmed, but it is understood that Koeman ideally wants to go and play the games before the English based fixtures already announced by the club against Swindon, Bournemouth and Brighton.

These will be vital days for the new boss in the wake of a tricky summer at St Mary’s.

With star names having departed, new faces set to have arrived and Koeman trying to put his own stamp on things, it will provide the perfect opportunity to bond together the group and get some fitness in the legs of the players.

It is also a chance for the squad to learn what is expected of them from the new management team, and for the coaching staff themselves to gel after they were pieced together as pre-season began.

The opposition will only be low key as a first reintroduction to action for the players.

It is unlikely anybody will play much more than 45 minutes in either game but it will help enable the team to figure for longer in the friendlies in this country when the serious business starts to loom large.