Southampton will be aiming to continue their push for promotion from the Championship on Tuesday night.
The Saints host Hull City at St Mary’s, looking to build on their 2-0 win over West Brom at The Hawthorns from Friday night.
This is a game in hand on 2nd place Leeds United for Russell Martin’s side. Victory here would see them move above the Whites by a point, in the battle for automatic promotion.
Southampton will therefore be hoping to have as strong a squad as possible for that clash with the Tigers. Liam Rosenior’s side are still well in the race for the play-off place as things stand.
Now though, it seems as though there is still some uncertainty as to whether one key man will be able to feature for the Saints, in that game.
Flynn Downes return could be ‘problematic’ for Southampton
The last two games have seen Martin have to cope without being able to call on the services of Flynn Downes.
The on-loan West Ham midfielder was forced off early on in Southampton’s 5-3 win over Huddersfield Town, just over a week ago.
Since then, the 25-year-old has been absent from matches with Bristol City and West Brom.
Now it also seems as though Martin is unsure whether Southampton will be able to call upon Downes for tonight’s match. That it seems, may be influenced by the quick turnaround to Saturday’s clash with Millwall at St Mary’s.
Providing an update on the midfielder ahead of Tuesday’s game, Martin was quoted by Daily Echo journalist Alfie House as saying:
“Flynn could be back tomorrow but it might mean Saturday is more problematic. We will make that decision in the next 24 hours.”
So far this season, Downes has made 24 appearances in all competitions for Southampton, scoring once and providing two assists in that time.
Saints may not want to risk Flynn Downes
It looks as though it could be a tough call for Southampton to make over whether or not to start Downes against Hull City.
There will surely be a temptation to do so. He has been a hugely important player for the Saints this season, so they will want him involved as soon as possible.
Judging by these comments from Martin however, it seems if they do risk him now, that may raise questions about his fitness further down the line.
As a result, given the number of important games they have to come, they may not want to take a chance on him being ruled out long-term again.
That in turn, could then hinder their chances of claiming automatic promotion by dropping even more points in games to come.
With that in mind, you get the feeling that this is going to be a tough call for Martin to take when it comes to whether or not Downes starts for Southampton on Tuesday night.