Mark Hughes will have his full squad assembled today for the first time this summer as Saints head into the last fortnight of preparations for the Premier League season.

Saints return to Staplewood after a successful training camp in France was rounded off with a 2-0 win over Dijon.

The last returning World Cup stars, Maya Yoshida and Cedric Soares, will be back from their summer holidays to get ready for the new campaign.

It will be a battle to get them both fully match sharp and ready in just 13 days before Saints host Burnley in their top-flight opener at St Mary’s, but at least Hughes has everybody to work with at last after a confidence boosting week across the Channel.

"It was a marked improvement on where we were at last weekend,” said Hughes, referring to the 3-0 defeat to Derby.

“I think the old adage a week’s a long time in football applies, and the amount of work we’ve done this week obviously showed in our performance.

"I thought it was a good performance. They’re a decent side. They got a bit frustrated towards the end and we had to keep our heads, but that’s a good thing. That’s another part of what you need to be exposed to at this stage of the season, to get you ready for the main event."

Saints have two games at St Mary’s this week to get their teeth into with Celta Vigo visiting on Wednesday night and Borussia Monchengladbach arriving on Saturday.

"Overall, I thought as a workout it was exactly what we needed at this stage," added Hughes.

"We've got two really good games ahead of us now next week, and that will bring us on even more.

"So, overall, it's been a really pleasing week. We've had a good time, we've put some good work in, and I'm starting to see that in our general play as well."

Also pleasing for Hughes was to see two of his strikers, Shane Long and Manolo Gabbiadini, scoring against Dijon.

"I thought it was important to get Shane back involved," he said. "He’s missed a little bit through injury, so it was good that he came back in.

"I thought Shane and Gabbi in the first half were really bright in their work and caused them a number of problems."