Joseph Mills can't wait for the season to begin as the new era at Saints got underway in front of two new faces at the club.
New owner Markus Liebherr and manager Alan Pardew, both watched on from the Director's Box at St. Mary's and Mills gave them their first cheer of the afternoon by opening the scoring in a 4-1 defeat to against Ajax in the 15th minute.
"It was quite surreal to actually get the goal," Mills explained. "When I found out that I was in the team I just tried to take the opportunity with both hands and fortunately I got a goal.
"The last few days have been a bit up and down with manager names being thrown around and then with the preparations for today, but I thought we put in a good shift and the result is not too important.
"Everyone's pleased and we're now looking forward to Monday to impress the new manager and show him what we can do so there's a buzz about the place."
The team were introduced to the new man at the helm of first team affairs shortly after the final whistle at St. Mary's and Mills says that he made an instant impression on the squad.
"We met Mr. Pardew today and he's a good man," Mills said. "He spoke to all the boys after the game and explained how he wants to take the team forward. We're all looking forward to the future under him.
"I'm looking to get a first team position but obviously that's up to the manager," he added. "Everyone's on a clean sheet and I've got to show him what I'm capable of."
Towards the tail end of last season, the young left sided player made an impact during a loan spell at eventual play-off winners, Scunthorpe United and Mills said that he learnt a lot from his time at Glanford Park.
"It was a great experience to go out and play for Scunthorpe last season," he said. "It gave me the experience that I needed of League One, I played 14 or 15 games against good opposition and hopefully that will help me this season.
"It's a battle to do well. You've got to win the ball first, Scunthorpe liked to play like Southampton do and they went on to win promotion so hopefully Saints even with a ten point deduction can get rid of that and see how far we can go.
"We can take heart from how Leeds United responded to the deduction and I think we have enough quality about us to get up the league quickly."
