Tonda Eckert: Southampton head coach has FA charge on mind

Southampton are currently in Germany for a pre-season training camp, with owner Solak pictured with the squad, external as the club await the FA’s decision.

Eckert’s team have already played friendlies against Eastleigh and Eintracht Braunschweig as well as a behind-closed-doors friendly against SC Paderborn.

They will play Preussen Munster on Saturday in their final friendly before taking on Colchester the following weekend in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

One week later they start their Championship season away at Watford, and Eckert is hoping that last season’s success, specifically in the FA Cup, can help them to bring plenty of momentum and belief into the new campaign.

“We’ll be competing for automatics (top two), I think that’s clear and that’s the ambition,” Eckert added.

“There’s going to be some challenges on the way like every season, that so many games will bring.

“Obviously you have some big clubs now coming down but in the end it’s down to us and I think we’ve shown what we can do also against bigger teams, even if that’s a different competition.

“We’ve shown what we are capable of doing and we need to make sure we connect to that as quick as possible.”