Southampton boss Ronald Koeman hopes this season's success inspires similar sized clubs.

Koeman, who now believes a top-four finish is possible, thinks they can inspire the rest of the pack to go gunning for the league's big spenders too.

He said: "Normally the big teams have the most possibilities to have the best players, but it would be good that a team out of that will fight for a high position.

"Last season it was Everton, who were fighting for that position. It looks like now that we are the team who will fight for that position.

"That's good because it makes changes and it's good for the rest of the clubs. That's the achievement of the whole club who makes that great.

"They started last season, because in the last five or six years the club is growing. They had the eighth position on the table last season.

"It was a great season, but we try to do it better this season, and it looks like it is possible. The rest of the teams, with good organisation and good structure, you can grow.

"Not in one season, but in some four, five, six years you can grow up. You can really do that as a battle to the big ones, and we try it, and we try to do it. That's the best we can do."