Southampton goalkeeper explains why 'it's a little bit weird' to be working under Will Still

Still, an eye-catching appointment from the Saints, is the Championship's youngest manager and will lead his side out for the first time in a competitive fixture against Wrexham on Saturday.

Despite winning plaudits for his work in the French first division, it remains a rare occurrence in the sport to see any manager being younger than any member of their playing squad.

But McCarthy was quick to sing the praises of his new boss and explained how impressive he has been in pre-season. He said, “Yeah, obviously everyone sort of knew what he was about before he came in. When you're in and around him, you wouldn't think he is the age he is.

“The way he conducts himself and the way he takes meetings and speaks to the lads, I never look in and think, ‘Yeah, I'm older than him’. He comes across very well, and he knows what he wants. And obviously it's down to us to deliver.

“It is a bit weird when you think I'm three, four years older than him. I think Stevo (Jack Stephens) may be a year younger or whatever.

“It's probably the first time in my career that I've been older than the manager - it shows you that I'm getting on a bit.

“But no, he's been brilliant since day one when he came in. He knows what he wants, we know what he wants. He's been positive.”

Hosting Wrexham, one of the Championship's most talked about clubs due to their 'Hollywood' connections, represents an attractive proposition for Southampton on the opening day.

But after suffering relegation from the Premier League last season, former England goalkeeper McCarthy insisted all focus is on the club trying to regain their place in the top flight.

He added, "Yeah, now obviously you've got clubs like Birmingham - they were in the Premier League a couple of years ago and they're a massive club. Everybody knows that.

"Honestly, the last couple of years Wrexham have done unbelievably to get to where they've got to. Obviously, the history behind the club.

“But then from our side we've had a disappointing season last season. We want to bounce straight back up. So we've got two clubs pushing for promotion.

“But we're just going to sort of take each game as it comes. We don't want to look too far down the line. We can only concentrate and control what we control.

“We want to lay that marker down on Saturday and kick on from there. We know we're going to have tough opponents during the season. It's just about getting through our games.”

Alex McCarthy was speaking on behalf of UK bookmaker Midnite, Southampton’s official training kit partner. Midnite surprised a group of loyal Saints fans with a £1,000 cash prize via parachute skydivers who interrupted a first-team training session on Thursday, August 7.