Shane Long has admitted that matching last season's Premier League finish and winning silverware is the "ultimate goal" for Southampton.

The Saints are currently ninth in the top flight after a mixed campaign to date under Claude Puel, winning five and losing five of their 16 games.

Southampton were dealt a crushing blow earlier this month when exiting the Europa League at the group stage, but Long retains hope of kicking on in the second half of the season and replicating the sixth-place finish of last term, while also overcoming Liverpool in the final four of the EFL Cup in January.

"A bit of silverware would be nice and we want to push again for Europe by pushing up the table as far as we can," he told Sky Sports News. "We are in the semi-final of the EFL Cup now and we have a big enough squad to deal with those competitions.

"It is a great opportunity for us to get some silverware. It's a long way away to think about it, we have a lot of games between then and now, but that would be the ultimate goal.

"We have come on so far over the last six or seven years as a club and it's the only thing missing at the moment. Last year [the club's best league finish since 1985] was a big achievement but to bring a cup back to the club would be a big achievement too."

Long, without a goal since May, is expected to play a part in Southampton's meeting with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday afternoon.