After 25 games unbeaten, Southampton finally tasted defeat on Tuesday night, and one player seemingly struggled.
That came at the hands of Bristol City, who claimed a 3-1 victory over the Saints at Ashton Gate.
That has now put pressure on Russell Martin‘s side in the race for automatic promotion. The Southampton boss made four changes to his starting lineup for that clash with the Robins.
One of those to come into the side was Shea Charles. Like Joe Rothwell, the Northern Ireland international was brought into the midfield three alongside Will Smallbone. Stuart Armstrong and the injured Flynn Downes were the ones to drop out in that position.
This was Charles’ first start in the Championship for Southampton since the 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle on the 29th December. He will therefore, have been keen to stake a claim for a more regular place in the starting XI.
Shea Charles ‘struggled’ at Bristol City
Ultimately, it appears as though things did not entirely go to plan for Charles at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night.
He was substituted by Martin at half time, with the aforementioned Armstrong taking his place in the Southampton midfield after the break.
In the Daily Echo’s match report, Charles was described as ‘passive’ while on the pitch, having ‘struggled to fully get to grips with the contest’.
According to SofaScore however, Charles completed 2 tackles during his time on the pitch, with only one Southampton player winning more during the whole match.
The 20-year-old also 4 of his 7 duels and made 2 key passes – no Southampton player completed more.
Even so, despite only playing half the game, Charles was dispossessed on 9 occasions. In attack he was unable to muster any shots, and completed just 1 dribble before being substituted.
Southampton may have a decision to make on Charles
It seems as though this performance from Charles may give Martin something to think about when it comes to his selections going forward.
Although the stats suggest there were positives to his performance, the fact he was replaced at half time for the Southampton boss does not bode well for him.
With Armstrong having been rested from the start on Tuesday, he may be fresh enough to come back into the XI against West Brom on Friday.
Meanwhile, Martin is also hopeful that Southampton will have Downes back available after injury for that game.
As a result there will be much more competition for a place in the lineup for Charles come the weekend, in the form of more established starters this season.
That may make it hard for him to keep his place in the side for that game. It could therefore be interesting to see just when Charles is back in a Southampton starting lineup again.