Toby Alderweireld insists that Saints should aim for the Champions League this season and not be happy to settle for the Europa League.

With eight games left in the campaign, the club are six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.

However, as Louis van Gaal’s team face Manchester City and Chelsea in two of their next three games, there is a good chance Saints will close that gap if they can keep up their winning form.

“At the moment we have a ticket for the Europa League, but we must aim higher,” Alderweireld told Belgian reporters while on international duty with his country.

Saints’ next three games see them travel to 13th-placed Everton, before hosting 15th-placed Hull and then making the trip to tenth-placed Stoke.

After that, they welcome former manager Mauricio Pochettino and his Tottenham side to St Mary’s, for what could be a crunch match, with Spurs currently one point and one position below them.

The season then concludes with three games against relegation-threatened sides – away to Sunderland, away to Leicester and home to Aston Villa – before a final-day trip to Manchester City.

Alderweireld was also quizzed about whether that could be his last game for Saints.

The defender’s loan deal from Atletico Madrid expires in the summer, with his future beyond that time still uncertain.

Saints do possess an option to buy him for £6.8m, but Atletico can effectively buy that back for £1.5m.

Given the level of his performances this season, it would be no surprise if they chose to do that, either to use him themselves or if they felt they could fetch a bigger price on the market.

The likes of Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal have all been linked with moves for him.

Alderweireld has already indicated he would be happy to remain at Saints, even saying he would like to do that if it was up to him, but he has also stressed the decision is not his right now.

Asked about the rumoured interest from elsewhere, he said: “My future is not only in my own hands.

“I don't know how concrete the interest is [from Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal]. And maybe Atletico wants me back.”

In what could be another boost to Saints, though, the 26-year-old also added that the Premier League held “a slight preference” for him over La Liga.

“It's the most beautiful competition in the world,” he said.