Carl Martin highlighted that it will always be about the performance, as Southampton's youngsters travel to Tottenham Hotspur in the U18 Premier League on Saturday (11:30 GMT).
Saints travel to north London looking for a return to winning ways, following tough recent results to sides from the west side of the capital.
A 2-0 defeat to Chelsea at the start of February was followed by a 3-1 loss to Fulham at Staplewood campus last time out.
“This month, in terms of the league table, we come up against all the top teams,” said Martin. “Which is always difficult at this point of the season.
“The way we have gone this season, in terms of our model of pushing players ahead early in the development pathway, we’ve ended up with a really young scholar group and a really young Under-23s group.”
“As a result it probably looks like there’s something going on in terms of the results sometimes not being that great, but the performances; when we look back there’s been some real good performances in terms of personal development.”
The trip to Tottenham gives Saints the chance to overtake the likes of Everton, Burnley and Arsenal if other results go their way, but Martin concedes they will face a real challenge at sixth placed Spurs.
“There’s no right or wrong way of playing football, but what you get with Tottenham is really good individual players, a really good challenge in terms of how they play with the ball and you always go there knowing it’s going to be a tough game.
“For me moving into the game, it’s always about the performance, the energy and sticking to the plan regardless of the result.
“The lads’ attitudes this week, considering the weather and the smaller training groups, has been spot on.”
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