Southampton boss Claude Puel has given no guarantees to Charlie Austin despite another two-goal performance.

The 27-year-old striker made it seven goals in his past six games by scoring twice in Sunday's 3-1 win over Burnley in the Premier League.

The Saints now prepare to tackle Inter Milan in the Europa League in Italy on Thursday but even after his free-scoring form, a starting XI position is up for grabs according to Puel.

"No, it's important he doesn't play all the games from the start," was the Frenchman's response when asked of Austin was undroppable.

"It's important you don't lose Charlie, it's important he's available every time, to keep a good physical level for every player.

"Charlie is not an endurance player; it's important to keep him with his qualities, and we can change the team every game. It's not possible, for me, for a player to start all the games every three days.

"We can keep all the players with a good performance all the time, and a good physical level. It's important to conserve [their energy], to continue this work for the team, for the future."

He added: "I'm happy for [Austin], for us. He likes to score.

"The team plays good football and takes confidence from Charlie's quality. At the moment he's very important and interesting for us."

Austin scored from close range in the 52nd minute before adding a penalty 14 minutes later after Nathan Redmond had made it 2-0, prior to Sam Vokes' 72nd-minute spot-kick for the Clarets.