Claude Puel is experiencing his first season in English football having taken over the reins at Southampton in the summer.

The Frenchman replaced Everton-bound Ronald Koeman and, although his Saints side didn’t win any of their first four league games, they won three in five to climb up the Premier League table.

Puel’s men currently sit tenth after back-to-back defeats against Chelsea and Hull, but they’ll be hoping to get back to winning ways when they host league leaders Liverpool at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Despite their slow start in the league, Southampton produced a 3-0 win over Sparta Prague in their first Europa League match of the season, and last time out beat Italian giants Inter Milan 2-1 at St Mary’s, a result which leaves them second in Group K, and with a great chance of making the last 32.

However, with international football taking centre stage this week, we at Shoot! decided to look back at Southampton’s history, and thus have selected their TOP THREE strikers of all time…

3) Rickie Lambert

There might be a few eyebrows raised at this selection, but Southampton might not be where they are now without Rickie Lambert’s goals.

The Cardiff forward scored goals at every level to help the Saints rebuild after a turbulent few years, netting 88 times across three seasons to help the Saints achieve a double promotion from League One to the Premier League.

His 15 goals in the first season back in the top-flight helped consolidate their status in the top tier, and he’s someone that Southampton fans owe a lot to.

Arguably, his goals and overall contributions in those five years between 2009 and 2014 have helped lay the foundations for which Southampton have built upon.

2) Terry Paine

For unwavering loyalty and an incredible instinct in front of goal, Terry Paine gets second spot in this list.

For from the most prolific of Southampton forwards, Paine appeared 815 times in an 18-year stint on the South Coast. He joined the club in 1957 when they were in the Third Division South, and left in 1974 when they had just been relegated from the First Division.

Paine was there throughout the ascent to the top tier, and chipped in with 187 goals in that time, the third most of any Southampton player in history.

1) Mick Channon

Mick Channon is Southampton’s record goal-scorer, and undoubtedly their best ever striker.

In two separate spells with the Saints, Channon scored 228 goals in 607 appearances for the club, many of which were in the First Division.

He also helped the club win the FA Cup in 1976, their first and so far only triumph in the competition, and was Saints’ top-scorer in five successive seasons from 1971.

A Southampton legend who scored goals for fun during his career, Channon is now a hugely successful racehorse trainer.