Southampton suffered three Premier League defeats in the space of six days over the festive period to derail their march up the table.

Claude Puel’s men were sitting in seventh courtesy of their 3-1 victory over Bournemouth on December 18, yet losses at the hands of Tottenham, West Brom, and Everton has seen them slip to tenth in the division.

Nonetheless, the Saints are still nine points clear of the bottom three and in no obvious danger of getting sucked into a relegation battle, but manager Puel will hope to get his side out of a rut sooner rather than later.

Southampton have won six of their 20 league games this season, but have also reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, where they’ll meet Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in a bid to reach the final for the first time in 48 years.

However, their recent struggles has somewhat highlighted their lack of squad depth, which means that Puel will almost certainly have to reinforce his side in January ready for the second half of the campaign.

The Saints have been active in the winter window previously with a varying degree of success, but here are their TOP THREE January signings over the past 14 years…

Jason Puncheon

Winger Jason Puncheon made the move from Plymouth to Southampton in January 2010 while the Saints were embarking on their first season in League One.

Although Nigel Adkins wasn’t hugely sold on the 30-year-old, and subsequent loan spells at Millwall, Blackpool, and QPR followed, Puncheon was an important part of the Saints squad that finished 14th in their first season back in the Premier League in 2012/13.

He netted seven times in 34 games for the club to end the campaign as their third highest goal-scorer behind Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert, but it was his overall displays that delighted the St Mary’s faithful.

Puncheon then signed a loan deal at Crystal Palace for the 2013/14 season, before making the move to Selhurst Park permanent in the January.

Charlie Austin

He may only have been there a year, but Southampton’s £4 million purchase of Charlie Austin in January 2016 is already turning out to be an excellent piece of business.

The former Burnley and QPR striker only netted once in the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign – a late winner against Manchester United – but this current campaign has been the one which has seen Austin become the number one forward at St Mary’s.

Prior to injury a few weeks ago, the 27-year-old had scored nine goals in just 16 appearances for the Saints, six of which were in the Premier League.

Puel will certainly miss his talisman for the next few months as he recovers from a dislocated shoulder yet, when fit, he is as clinical a striker as there is in the Premier League.

Jose Fonte

Arguably Southampton’s best bit of January business was bringing in Portuguese international defender Jose Fonte from Crystal Palace in January 2010.

The centre-back played 82 times in the Championship for the Eagles, yet decided to drop down to League One to help the Saints get back into the second tier.

And he did just that in his first full season at the club in 2010/11, netting seven goals and winning the club’s Player of the Season award for his outstanding contributions in the backline.

Fonte was also a key part of the team which secured back-to-back promotions the season after and, although there were concerns about whether he could cut it in the Premier League, he has since gone to make 154 top-flight appearances to help solidify Southampton’s status in the top tier.

The Euro 2016 winner is now widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the division and, as a result, he’ll likely have several suitors this month should Southampton let him go before his contract ends next year.