Southampton fans can really start to get excited about the new season as they kick-off their pre-season friendly schedule on Friday night against Eastleigh.
Russell Martin welcomed his Southampton players back for pre-season at the start of July as the hard work began in the mission to avoid relegation in the Premier League this season.
Fans have now seen the new home and away kits, as they were unveiled at a Puma event on Tuesday night at which the signing of Flynn Downes was also announced.
Now, the Southampton faithful will be able to see their players wearing their new attire for the first time as they make the short trip to Eastleigh to face the National League side managed by Saints legend Kelvin Davis.
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The game could give a number of clues as to what Martin has planned for next season and here are three things to look out for.
What formation will Southampton play in Eastleigh friendly?
The first thing that should become immediately apparent is what formation Southampton will play.
Martin favoured a 4-3-3 formation almost exclusively in his first season in charge last campaign but made a surprise switch to a back three in the final game of the regular season away at Leeds United.
It worked well as Southampton won 2-1 at Elland Road and Martin again opted to use the 3-5-2 in the away leg of the play-off semi-final against West Brom before reverting to a 4-3-3 for the return leg.
In the final, Southampton used a hybrid of both systems, switching depending on whether or not they had the ball.
It will be intriguing to see if Martin intends to continue with this tactic or whether that was simply a means to an end in terms of play-off success.
The shape used against Eastleigh could well give real insight into his thinking.
Who will play in goal for Southampton v Eastleigh?
Whilst supporters could gain real insight into the system Martin wants to use in the Eastleigh friendly, fans should not read too much into which players start the game at this stage of pre-season.
However, with that being said, one position of interest will be in goal.
With Gavin Bazunu set to be out well into the new season with an Achilles injury, Alex McCarthy and Joe Lumley, as well as returning loanee Mateusz Lis, will all want minutes in goal this pre-season.
Lis is widely expected to return to Southampton’s sister club Goztepe on loan next season but his impressive performances last season – where he kept 20 clean sheets – could see Martin want to take a look at him against Eastleigh.
If Lis gets any game time on Friday night it could be a hint that Martin is considering the 27-year-old as a realistic option for next season.
Southampton fans could get first proper look at Ross Stewart
One of the biggest disappointments last season was Ross Stewart‘s lack of action.
Signed for £10 million from Sunderland last summer despite having just one year left on his deal and a long-term Achilles injury, fans hoped that once he recovered Stewart could be a formidable striker for the St Mary’s club.
However, his long-awaited debut off the bench in November was only followed by one more cameo before a hamstring injury saw him sidelined until the final game of the regular season.
After coming off the bench against Leeds in that final Championship game, Stewart had his longest appearance in a Saints shirt with half-an-hour against West Brom in the first-leg of the play-off semi-final, but would not feature again.
With the chance to arrive at pre-season without any injury concerns, Southampton fans will be hoping Stewart can show why the club paid £10 million to sign him last summer despite the fact he had only played 13 Championship games in his career.
The friendly against Eastleigh should provide Stewart with the opportunity to start to show Southampton what they’ve been missing with his absence last season.