Mark Hughes has admitted that deadline day signing Danny Ings is even better than he expected.

The Southampton born and bred striker, who moved from Liverpool in a deal that will be made permanent for £16m next summer, has got his Saints career off to a flyer with two goals in his first three starts for the club.

Hughes is a long-time admirer of Ings but confessed even he has been pleasantly surprised by just how good his new recruit is.

He said: “I knew he was a very good football player but actually his technical ability is a level that is probably better than I thought, if that was possible.

“He has come in and impressed me in terms of the way he is able to receive balls, manipulate the ball to create a bit of space, and his understanding of dropping the shoulder to create one or two yards of space to be able to operate in.

“He is good in that regard so a lot of traits that are going to help us, help him, help the team and help his teammates.”

Ings is set to start tonight as Saints return from the first international break of the season to take on Brighton at St Mary’s.

Paul Merson recently compared Ings to Teddy Sheringham, and Hughes can understand why, even if he feels there is one significant difference.

“I think he is a little bit quicker if I'm honest,” smiled Hughes. “But he has that ability to be aware of people around him.

“Obviously he is a goalscorer and wants to score goals himself but I think he gets a lot of pleasure from being part of the process of creating chances and making opportunities for other guys as well. That shows he is not just an out and out striker.

“Sometimes guys that are just looking to get on the end of things and are not involved in the build-up process, those are the guys you think have the selfish element to their play, which all strikers have to have, but they have it more than most.

“With Danny he is more a player that wants to be involved in the build-up and help his teammates to be maybe able to score the goals that he is not able to because he is not in that position himself.

“As an all-round attacking player he is exceptional in that regard and the longer he plays and gets that run of games behind him he will be even better.”

Given the recent internationals there is inevitably focus on whether Ings could break into the England squad, and potentially even play a role off of Harry Kane.

“The importance for Danny is to get regular football,” insisted Hughes. “That's why he has come here. He has come to a club he has empathy with and he has had a period of frustration at his previous club where he obviously wasn't fit and even when he was fit he wasn't able to play week in, week out.

“He is not going to get that hopefully if he get a fair run of games without injury, which we think he will get that, and it is up to him to make the most of that.

“I sense with Danny there is a little bit of frustration in terms of where his career was and what he has had to do to get back on track and now he is ready to go again.

“So we are going to reap the benefits of that and as a consequence of that I would imagine, further down the line, if he continues in the same vein and continues to score goals people will have to recognise that at international level as well.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he has the quality to play at that level.

“He is an intelligent boy. A guy that is creative in the key area of the field, has a good awareness of people around him and he is a goalscorer himself as well so a lot of the attributes you want from a frontline striker he has got.”