Russell Martin knows time could be running out for him to turn Southampton’s fortunes around after a winless start to the Premier League season.
Southampton have one point from a possible 21 so far, meaning a win at home game against Leicester City on Saturday is absolutely vital.
Russell Martin does have a number of concerns going into the game, though, so let’s split the various issues up…
Southampton players injured and unavailable
Gavin Bazunu is the only Southampton player guaranteed to miss the Leicester clash through injury, with the Achilles issue sustained in April set to keep the goalkeeper out until 2025.
Southampton players who may not be 100%
There are question marks this weekend over the following players…
- Will Smallbone
- Kamaldeen Sulemana
- Ross Stewart
- Tyler Dibling
Will Smallbone has been out of action since returning from the last international break with an issue but Martin confirmed he and Kamaldeen Sulemana could both return after the current international break.
Ross Stewart made his first Saints start against Arsenal last match but lasted just 27 minutes. There has been no update on the striker but it is unlikely he will recover to full fitness ahead of Leicester regardless.
Tyler Dibling withdrew from England under-19 duty but the hope is this was simply due to his high workload at Southampton in the last few weeks.
Southampton’s best available team to face Leicester
At present we are going to rule out all of the above as starters for Southampton’s match with Leicester, looking at who else this leaves available.
- GK: Aaron Ramsdale
- RB: Yukinari Sugawara
- CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis
- CB: Jan Bednarek
- LB: Kyle Walker-Peters
- CM: Flynn Downes
- CM: Mateus Fernandes
- CM: Adam Lallana
- RW: Adam Armstrong
- LW: Ben Brereton Diaz
- CF: Cameron Archer
Martin opted to play a back five against Arsenal with Kyle Walker-Peters operating at centre-back but he should return to left-back as Southampton look to take the game to Leicester.
The two week break should have done veteran Adam Lallana some good and he should return to the side, with Cameron Archer leading the line after a first league goal since signing against Arsenal.
The wide areas are problematic and Southampton will hope Dibling is fine to start on the right. If not, Adam Armstrong could get a chance, with a toss-up between Ben Brereton Diaz and Ryan Fraser on a weak left wing.