During a Q & A session on Friday afternoon, The Athletic's Carl Anka shed some light on contract situations at St Mary's.

Southampton have a number of players who are soon to be out of contract, including Maya Yoshida, Shane Long, Cedric Soares and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.

Yoshida, Long and Cedric's deals are all set to expire in the summer, whereas Højbjerg's will end in the summer of 2021.

Ralph Hasenhuttl's deal is also set to expire in the summer of 2021.

When asked about Long's contract situation specifically by a fan, Anka gave a helpful response that covered all bases.

What did he say?

After saying that the question was "handy" because he had already put it to Hasenhuttl, The Athletic's Southampton correspondent wrote that the Austrian said: "No change [regarding contract extensions] because we will get 36 points and then we will speak to the players. Let’s have a look then."

And then I asked "does this include your own contract?"

And he gave me a firm "Yes."

Not long to go on current form

While everyone associated with Southampton is presumably keen to see Hasenhuttl put pen to paper on a new deal, or at least begin to discuss it, they shouldn't have much longer left to wait if the club's recent form is anything to go by.

The former RB Leipzig manager said that he is waiting to get to 36 points before discussing new deals with his players as well as his own contract, and seeing as Southampton's recent run of four wins and a draw from their last five outings - before Saturday's game against Wolves - has left them on 28 points, we shouldn't have to wait too long until these discussions begin if eight more points are amassed quickly.

We can only wait and see what happens in regards to Hasenhuttl, Long, Yoshida, Cedric and Højbjerg's deals.

In other news, Southampton find themselves in a 'Catch 22' situation regarding Danny Ings...