Southampton boss Mark Hughes is keen to give his fringe players a chance on their preseason tour of China.

Hughes wants to delay sending his youngsters out on-loan until he considers their form over the next month.

"In terms of what we can do, it's still very important we get good work into the guys that are here," Hughes said.

“We can do a lot of good work because we've got good numbers, got players coming back from loan as well, which will add to the squad.

“They'll have to take on board a lot of information quickly because they haven't been here last year when I came in.

“That will be a process they have to go through as well.

“I'm looking forward to it, it's less intense this period and pre-season is great. You get all the benefits of being a footballer and football manager without really needing to win games.

“But it's only a short window before you have to get to the important stuff, so this period is just about making sure we're ready to go."