SAINTS' new academy director Andy Goldie says the club are aiming to develop players who can 'make a sustainable impact' on the first-team squad.

Goldie arrived at Southampton this summer having followed manager Russell Martin from Swansea to the south coast.

He began his role at Staplewood on Monday, July 3, and is responsible for the leadership, strategy and productivity of the club’s youth development programme from Under-7s to Under-21s.

Speaking in his first interview with the club, Goldie said: "I'm really proud to be here and hopefully build on the success and the foundations that have been left.

"I've been really, really excited about the vision that Jason [Wilcox], Rasmus [Ankersen] and Sport Republic have here.

"Undoubtedly the game model that we'll work closely with Russell [Martin] to develop across the academy is now going to open that pathway for the young players and that's the key thing.

"My role here is firstly to do that and to deliver success back to this club through the recruitment, development and retention of young players and to really provide strategic leadership to the academy."

He continued: "We need to be careful what we deem as success or long-term success.

"My job isn't to come here and develop players who can make a debut, my job is to develop players who can make a sustainable impact and enhance our first team squad.

"I think the three of us [Jason Wilcox, Russell Martin, Andy Goldie] are very aligned on what we believe success to be but also the levels and the standards and the effort required to make sure that we deliver that success.

"We don't want any player in our system going into any game of football with any fear. We want them to be brave, we want them to be courageous."