YAN Valery is backing Saints to finish inside the top-10 next season.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side secured their Premier League status last weekend with a 3-3 draw against Bournemouth.

And Valery, who witnessed their battle against the drop last season, thinks this is the last time they will be fighting at the wrong end of the table.

“I’m so proud of the team, I’m so happy,” revealed the Saints youngster.

“I’m one of the players who can see all of the hard work being put in in every training session and I think we deserve it. I just want to finish the season well with, hopefully, two wins.

“Next season hopefully we can just play our football and hopefully don’t suffer what we did the last two seasons again.

“I think we shouldn’t experience the relegation battle again because we have a really good team.

“You can see with this manager we are playing great football, good pressing.

“Even the big teams it’s hard for them to play against us so if we do that next season, after pre-season and everything, I think we can be in the top half of the table.”

Valery is one of the many positives to come from Hasenhuttl’s short time in charge - even though it was Mark Hughes who handed him his debut.

The 19-year-old has become one of the first names on the teamsheet after a string of assured displays over the last five months.

Valery played a major role in the clean sheet at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge back in January, which was the first time they’d managed to deny a team from scoring under Hasenhuttl.

He also managed to keep Cedric Soares, who won the 2016 Uefa Euro 2016 tournament with Portugal, out of the side before he joined Inter Milan on loan.

And after Hasenhuttl masterminded Saints' survival, Valery lauded the Austrian.

He added: “He’s got another way to make you work. With him, you know that every day is hard work.

“He knows how to talk to the players, when we have to rest and when we have to work hard and there is a good balance.

“Every day, everyone is happy.

“Even after we lose a game you can feel that in the week, we just want to play the next game to win and show again that it was just a mistake. We are always ready for a new fight, a battle.”