Delighted Puel learned a lot from Zwolle win

Southampton manager Claude Puel was pleased with his side's performance in their 4-0 victory over PEC Zwolle in the first match of their pre-season tour of Holland.

Puel named a strong starting 11 for the first half in their match against the Eredivisie side before making a host of changes at half time which consisted of a lot of the club's young players.

A 14th-minute strike from Charlie Austin was followed up by a quick double for new signing Nathan Redmond. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg scored the only goal of the second half from the penalty spot.

Puel was pleased with what he saw from his side, stating that he learned a lot about the squad's qualities in their dominant win.

Puel said: "It is important to allow me to see different players, young players also, in different positions and different profiles. We have a better idea of the qualities of the squad."

Puel was pleased to see Redmond and Højbjerg net their first goals for the club but insisted that there is still a lot of work to do for Saints' summer signings.

He said: "It’s good for them, the team and the confidence. But, the more important for me is to improve in our relation between midfield and attack. It was better at the end of the first half and we can score goals. We scored very nice, beautiful goals."

The Frenchman made 10 changes at half-time and introduced some of the club's younger players. The Saints boss admitted that those changes disrupted the side's flow but was pleased with what he saw from the youngsters.

"We have seen in the second half it was a little more difficult with the younger players. They don’t have the capacity and the reaction is normal.

"They played with productivity and made many runs. It’s interesting to see step-by-step this team listening and improving."

Southampton's next match in their pre-season tour of Holland will be against Dusan Tadic's former club FC Twente. That game will take place on Wednesday 27th July at 6pm BST.