Whilst Russell Martin is working hard on the training ground to prepare for Manchester United, a number of his Southampton players are away on international duty.
The international break has come at a good time for Southampton, with Russell Martin given the chance to reflect on three defeats from three in the Premier League so far.
The Southampton boss knows changes are needed to combat his side’s poor start to the season with the need to reduce mistakes when playing their possession brand of football critical.
However, Martin has been without ten of his Saints players in his planning for Manchester United on Saturday as they represent their respective nations.
Will Smallbone faced England in the Nations League on Saturday night, whilst Ben Brereton Diaz and Yukinari Sugawara have travelled further afield to join up with Chile and Japan.
Polish media critical of Southampton’s Jan Bednarek in Croatia defeat
One player who has not had to travel quite as far as Brereton Diaz and Sugawara is Poland defender Jan Bednarek.
The experienced Pole helped his side to open their Nations League with a dramatic 3-2 win over Scotland at Hampden Park on Thursday before a 1-0 defeat to Croatia courtesy of a Luka Modric strike on Sunday evening.
Bednarek earned his 62nd international cap in Croatia but it will be one he will be keen to forget as his performance was criticised by Polish national media.
Weszlo scored Bednarek’s display a four out of ten, commenting: “He performed his basic tasks quite decently. However, he had very weak moments.
“In the first half, he made an absurd loss when passing the ball when he completely misunderstood Lewandowski, which resulted in a dangerous shot by Modric from outside the penalty area.
“After the break, he received a yellow card when he wanted to get in front of the striker, but he miscalculated and was passed, which is why he had to save himself with a foul.”
Przegląd Sportowy were equally unimpressed with the Southampton man, also scoring his performance a four, adding: “He fought in the air during set pieces and clashed with, among others, with [former Saint] Ćaleta-Car, with whom he lost the competition once.
“He made a glaring mistake when trying to pass the ball towards Urbański, passing the ball to Modric. Average performance. Sometimes he was too high to provide coverage, so with several passes, the opponents had easier access to the penalty area.”
Bednarek early return a boost for Southampton
After a difficult start to the domestic season, it is a concern that Bednarek’s display for his country was also below par.
However, Martin knows the 28-year-old is a player he can trust and Bednarek is expected to remain a key part of the Southampton side as they look to put right their poor start to the season.
The fact that Poland played the second of their two fixtures this international break on Sunday is good news for Martin as he will have Bednarek back in training well before welcoming Manchester United to St Mary’s Saturday lunchtime.
Whether he will play as part of a back four or three is one of the most intriguing factors about Saturday’s game, with Martin expected to have made some real changes whilst domestic football has been paused.