IT COULD be the perfect tactic to seal another record finish in the Premier League.

But Saints manager Ronald Koeman will need to deploy it better than last term if he is to be lured into the transfer market.

With the season wearing on it becomes more and more apparent where a squad needs reinforcing.

It is clear, as it was last term, that Saints are pretty sussed in defence and won’t need to bring in fresh recruits in the January transfer window in that department.

Summer arrivals Maarten Stekelenburg, the goalkeeper, and centre-back Virgil van Dijk have been superb while right-back Cedric Soares has been improving by the game.

It is further up field where Koeman could be tempted into spending and particularly in the loan market.

The St Mary’s faithful have revealed in a Daily Echo ballot that they would like to see new players come into bolster the attacking areas, with 76 per cent voting to bring in a new forward.

With Saints aiming to get into the European positions, a couple of new players in attack could hardly do their hopes any harm.

At this point in the season there seems little point in tinkering the main spine of the team.

However, in the attacking midfield areas, it could be an idea for Koeman to try and do what he did back in the January window last term.

Throw back to the beginning of the year and Koeman had brought in Filip Djuricic and Eljero Elia to give Saints fresh momentum going forward.

In the end, both of those attacking midfielders provided little, although Elia scored twice a 2-1 win at Newcastle in one of his first few appearances.

But the idea was there and there is no reason why it couldn’t be deployed again this term.

Both Djuricic and Elia arrived on loan deals, meaning had they been successful Saints could have brought them in permanently and if not then the club haven’t missed out.

Koeman, Les Reed and the recruitment department may have already selected their targets for January and it wouldn’t be surprising if they were in a similar ilk to Djuricic and Elia.

While heavy investment on a new striker seems unlikely, it would be more than plausible if Saints dived into the transfer market for an attacking midfielder on a temporary deal.

That would provide another alternative and avoid burning out Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane.

Where do you think Koeman needs to strengthen in January?