Steven Davis has shown that he intends possibly ending his career at St Mary's by signing a new contract that will keep him at the club till 2019.

Another member of the Saints squad has signed up for the long term with Steven Davis now over in France captaining Northern Ireland being announced as having put pen to paper on a deal that will keep him at the club for another three years.

Davis is perhaps the most consistent member of the Saints team and although he does not get the headlines like some of his team mates, the fans have started to appreciate the contribution he makes to the team in his tireless running and the way he links defence and attack seamlessly.

Since joining Saints from Glasgow Rangers in July 2012 for a bargain fee with the Scottish club having been demoted to the bottom tier of their league and being forced into liquidation, Davis has started 113 Premier League games for Saints plus another 22 as sub, scoring 9 goals, a quick mathematical sum on the calculator reveals that means he has played in 135 of a possible 152 matches in that period.

Last season was possibly his best starting 31 games plus 3 as sub and scoring 5 goals including a brace at Tottenham Hotspur that pushed Saints towards sixth place.

The only downside is that he is now in his 30's, he will turn 32 in January and that means that if he sees the contract through he could end his career at the club.

But he appears to keep improving with age and each season so far has been better than the previous meaning that in the last two years although there has been outright candidates for the player of the year award, Davis has been the only other player who has polled a significant amount of votes.

Les Reed had this to say about him on the club's official website

“I am delighted that Steven, another influential leader in the dressing room and on the pitch, has committed his future to Southampton Football Club.

“He is leading Northern Ireland’s campaign at EURO 2016 and representing his country and our club as a true ambassador.

“Southampton fans know only too well how much energy and effort he puts into games and our players know that when needed he will be there to help them.

“Having coached Steven myself both at club and international level, I know only too well how important he is to whichever team he is playing for.

“I am sure players and fans will be delighted with this news, as he joins Virgil, Prowsey and Fraser in extending his commitment to the club.”

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 12:00 - Jun 19 One of my favourite players, always gives 100% and a leader by example. Don't know whether his stamina can remain at the same level until the end of his contract but nonetheless his attitude and ability to influence younger players is worth every penny of the contract to the club.
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ThereIn76 added 12:21 - Jun 19 There's an interview with Stuart Dallas on the Sky Sports website that shows how highly his team-mates think of him: http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12019/10318369/northern-irelands-steven-d
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SanMarco added 15:44 - Jun 19 Yes - he is an unsung hero of the last years - hopefully with another couple of seasons in him. The signature I would really like to hear about next is Mr Long's.
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ChristchurchSaint added 17:45 - Jun 19 Excellent news, one of our unsung heroes who is never in the limelight, just quietly gets on with the job in hand. Well done Steven.
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