Southampton suffered their first defeat of the Premier League season at the weekend as their visitors, Watford, came away with all three points at St. Mary's on Saturday.
A relatively dull first-half of football was concluded with the Hornets nicking narrow lead prior to the interval as Abdoulaye Doucouré was able to take advantage of his side's initial effort on goal. Then substitute Daryl Janmaat doubled Marco Silva's score line, with it ending two-nil.
However, Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino is upbeat with the English internationals within his squad, as a number made notable impressions during the recent international break before the return of top-flight football.
“We have a lot of good British players''
One of Southampton's first team featured in the England set-up last week as pacey full-back Ryan Bertrand was given the go ahead to start in the Three Lions' outing at Malta, even grabbing himself a goal.
Meanwhile, determined, hungry and athletic midfield prospects Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse will be aiming high as they hope to be included in England's World Cup side next summer in Russia.
On competition and improvement for the Saints, Pellegrino said “we have a lot of good British players", going on to stress that he feels that "all of them can be there in the World Cup.''
Striker Shane Long was also involved during the last fortnight as he appeared for the Republic of Ireland. It didn't all go to plan for the Irishman, however, as his nation could only suffice a draw in Georgia before losing out to Serbia in Dublin.
''He is comfortable in this situation''
Focusing on individual performances and positions, Mauricio Pellegrino explains his decision to ploy certain players in particular areas of the pitch, especially starlet Redmond.
“Nathan can play right, left and middle. I am using him on the left because he is comfortable in this situation''.
It would seem the manager is hoping to form an English bond down the left side with Bertrand tracking up-field and back to help emulate Southampton's supporters' ambitions; “Ryan scored a good goal for England and hopefully he can do the same for us.”
Pellegrino will also be delighted that several of his foreign players are getting game for their respective countries.
Summer arrival Mario Lemina was involved in Gabon's two fixtures with African counterparts Ivory Coast, who they were able to overcome on a two-one score line.
Defender Wesley Hoedt, another acquisition in the recent window for the Saints, was a starter for the Netherlands against Bulgaria.
Will the international experience Pellegrino speaks of help Southampton?
It is inevitably a major helping hand in the Saints bid for European football if they have players featuring on the international stage, especially for such high calibre nations in the world game such as Italy, who Manolo Gabbiadini is a regular for, and centre-half Hoedt a favourite amongst the Dutch faithful.
Saying that, the fortnight rest can be of benefit at domestic level and it's easier to work with players who neccesarily have been able to relax without a game for two weeks, as to those who may proudly represent their countries, but could damage their league performances.
Mauricio Pellegrino is unquestionably an intelligent manager and he will realise this can bring both positives and negatives, although the confidence for such stars as Ryan Bertrand may flow through the Southampton first-team and outweigh the drag of fatigue.