Nathan Redmond’s brace against Derby County at the weekend saw him continue his strong run of form in stunning fashion.
His second strike in particular highlighted the increase in belief he has gained recently as he advanced towards the box, cut inside his marker and unleashed a beautiful, curling effort into the far corner that gave the Derby keeper no chance.
The 24-year-old has certainly hit a rich vein of form after also registering two goals and two assists in his last five Premier League games, so what has changed?
It is clearly no coincidence that the increase in output in Redmond’s game has come in the month since Ralph Hasenhuttl was appointed.
Whilst his effort and endeavour in matches had been superb since the start of the season in August, he just wasn’t being given the opportunity to exploit space and link-up with teammates like he is now.
The 3-4-2-1 system that Hasenhuttl has preferred so far sees both Redmond and Armstrong narrow behind a central striker; often Danny Ings, who has added a poachers instinct upfront for the team since arriving in the summer.
This sees Redmond picking up positions that he hadn’t been able to before. He is now able to influence play centrally, receive passes in dangerous areas from the central-midfielders and produce.
His cross for Ings’ second goal against Arsenal came from a narrow position and he was able to exploit a gap in the Huddersfield defence to latch onto Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s pass and finish confidently in Saints’ 3-1 away win on Yorkshire.
Whilst he was fielded on the left-wing for the 2-2 draw at Derby on Saturday, he could still be seen receiving the ball in central areas ahead of both his goals.
Playing with players such as Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong can only help him too. The three of them interchange positions and create a fluid frontline in attack that can pull opposition defences around whilst they can also drop back to provide structure without the ball.
The main point here is that Redmond is benefiting from a manager that looks to implement a shape to the team that gets the best out of him and others.
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This shape then helps him to get into areas where he can be more effective, whereas previous managers Mark Hughes and Mauricio Pellegrino focused defensive solidity that meant an overreliance on attackers producing individual brilliance to create chances.
Often Redmond could be seen stuck out on the wing with little to work with and would run into traffic when cutting inside.
The confidence that he is showing now though sees more variety in his game as he trusts himself to use both feet and take players on.
Huge pressure also came as Claude Puel arrived in 2016. The Frenchman openly said that Redmond could play as a striker despite not playing there before and he struggled in his first season as a result.
Other factors have also helped the former Norwich man of course. Hasenhuttl reportedly had one-to-one meetings with all his players to get to know them better and seems to be someone that wants to understand his squad unlike previous bosses.
Whilst a better connection and a resulting confidence boost could have come from this, the work that Redmond has put in himself is also paying off now.
Intensive early pre-season training that he organised himself (with Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and Nathaniel Chalobah in America) before joining up with the Saints squad again will have seen him become fitter and able to deal with the emphasis on pressing in Hasenhuttl’s football.
His mental strength cannot be denied either and it will have lifted a huge weight of his shoulders to tell his story to the Saints media team earlier this season. He was getting unfairly treated by sections of the St Mary’s crowd last year, but a connection with the Saints fanbase seems to be building back again thankfully.
Saints now have a motivated, confident and influential Redmond and could well continue to reap the rewards in their battle for survival this season.