Mark Hughes is moulding his Stoke side in his own image, according to Ronald Koeman.

Koeman and Hughes know each other well from their playing days, with the two going head-to-head on several occasions.

When Koeman watches Stoke play, he sees a lot of the qualities that Hughes embodied as a player in the team.

“Mark as a player was a tough one,” smiled Koeman. “He was always fighting in an honest way on the pitch.

“He was always trying to make problems. He let you never easy to play, always pressing, good movements.

“He was always playing on a high intensity and that he is doing as a manager with his players. They play with a high intensity, they give the opponent really hard work to beat them and that’s a reflection of the coach.”

Saints and Stoke sit second and third respectively in the Premier League form table heading into the game at St Mary’s tomorrow, with the Potters boasting an excellent defensive record.

Koeman thinks it will be a good game but is not expecting many goals.

He said: “We play at home, Stoke play away, and at home we like to attack, we like to play good football, play attractive football, with some offensive mentality always.

“Depending how the game starts, depending how we can press Stoke, and we like to press every opponent.

“Before the game they are two strong teams with some very good individual qualities of the players and both playing out of a good, strong organisation.

“I don’t expect a lot of goals. We are close together.”

Of that Stoke rearguard Koeman added: “It’s always hard to beat Stoke.

“We had that experience last year. We played three times against them and every game it was difficult.

“It’s the same for them. It’s also difficult to beat Southampton.

“It will be a good game because they sign some good technical players and maybe they changed their style a little bit with the players they have now available.

“We know it’s a difficult one but we are looking forward.”

Saints are also looking to extend their brilliant recent form to go seven games unbeaten in the Premier League and nine in all competitions.

“I think the key to this run is a good organisation,” insisted Koeman.

“We had a difficult start, we had some new players, we lost some players, and you need always time to improve yourself.

“I think the confidence in the team is one of the key words at the moment.

“The second clean sheet in a row is a good feeling and that makes the confidence.

“We are close to the level what we want and we have to work hard. It will be a tough programme in the coming weeks but we are prepared for that.”