RALPH Hasenhuttl revealed that there is a chance more players will leave the club before the month ends.

Although the English transfer window came to its conclusion yesterday, the European leagues are still open for business.

This means that moves for Guido Carrillo and Mario Lemina are still possible.

Hasenhuttl said: “Like the other players that haven’t been in the squad so far, it’s possible that there is an option for him [Lemina].

“For players leaving the club it wasn’t the last day because the transfer window stays open and only closes in England. Maybe later there is an option, so it wasn’t the last day to leave us.”

At the end of last season, the Saints boss claimed his preference would be to work with around 22 players.

But given a whole host of loanees returned to the club from their respective clubs, that number looked unachievable at one point.

Sofiane Boufal, Cedric Soares and Wesley Hoedt have re-integrated themselves into the Saints fold, while the club have also splashed out on Moussa Djenepo and Che Adams and brought Kevin Danso in on loan.

To make room for these players, Saints have managed to ship out Jordy Clasie, Sam Gallagher, Matt Targett, Charlie Austin, Josh Sims, Tyreke Johnson and Harrison Reed, which has drastically lowered the amount of personnel at his disposal.

And with the chances of Lemina and Carrillo leaving in the coming weeks, there is every possibility Hasenhuttl will get his wish.

The Austrian added: “We have spoken very often about the squad and I don’t want to have more than 22 or 23 players like I have at the moment.

 “That’s a good number of players and if you have injuries you work with this group and more doesn’t make sense.

“We want a very committed team and very close together and therefore it’s important to have the guys in from the first day of pre-season where we are working with this group.”

The Austrian has also challenged the likes of Cedric and Hoedt to prove themselves after returning to the club this summer.

“Sometimes it can help a player to find himself and realise what he has at a club and to have them back gives me more options,” continued Hasenhuttl.

“It’s good they accept the roles and rules they have here.  The success of the person is not as important as the success of the club – that goes for everyone here.”