COACH Calum McFarlane is not afraid to say he wants to win silverware as Saints under-21s continue to fight on two fronts this season.
Saints visit Derby County in their final match of the regular Premier League 2 season today, having won 20 of the last 27 points available.
They sit seventh in the league and a win on the last day will guarantee a top eight finish, and subsequently a home draw in the title play-offs.
Meanwhile, Saints are set to host Brentford in the semi-final of the Premier League Cup, after beating Charlton 5-3 after extra time in the last round.
Player development is always first and foremost in academy football but McFarlane believes that is not mutually exclusive to winning.
"The message is that they know that we've got a really good group of players here, that enjoy playing with each other," he told the Daily Echo.
"There's a lot of quality in this group. We haven't played anyone recently where we haven't been very confident in how we can play.
"If you look at the performances against Chelsea and Liverpool and whoever, we've competed with anyone we've played.
"I think the lads are really confident and really excited about, obviously, the Brentford semi-final and getting through to the play-offs.
"We're going for the top eight. We're in that position at the moment but we want to beat Derby and get up the table as high as we can.
"It's going to be tough because it's best under-21 teams in the country but with a home tie at St Mary's in the last 16, we'd be confident whoever we play.
"We've been really efficient. We've got a big squad of players that we've managed well. Obviously, a few injuries now at the moment.
"We're in a really good position that we're not playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday. We've got a smooth one a game week from now to the end."
The under-21s, previously under the management of Simon Rusk before McFarlane took over formally in February, have only lost once in 2025.
They were beaten 1-0 at Middlesbrough on March 16, but responded with a 3-0 home win against Blackburn Rovers earlier this month.
"The Middlesbrough game was a little bit of a blip. We should have won that game. That was one of our better performances as well," said McFarlane.
"Football can be like that. We were really good in most phases against Blackburn - other than in their box, we were poor in the final third.
"It was still a game up until the second goal, where it shouldn't be a game, it's either lack of quality, or selfish decisions in that final third.
"It was really pleasing in the third goal we scored, where Will Merry makes a really unselfish decision, and we get the goal from it.
"Moses Sesay scores, and I thought the subs made a good impact. Other than the wastefulness in the final third, I thought we were very good."
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