Southampton will once again see their powers of resilience tested on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints were dealt a blow in the automatic promotion race on Tuesday night, losing 2-1 at home to Hull City.
That saw them miss out on the chance to move above Leeds United and into 2nd in the Championship table.
Instead, they now go into their clash with Millwall at St Mary’s on Saturday under pressure to get back to winning ways quickly.
Now it seems as though there is one player who some would like to see brought into the starting XI for that game.
Journalist calls for David Brooks to start v Millwall
Since joining on loan from Bournemouth in the January transfer window, David Brooks has had to rather wait for his chance at Southampton.
The 26-year-old has started just once for Russell Martin‘s side in the league. In the defeat to Hull City, he was introduced from the bench at half time.
He would then go on to help the Saints to an improved second half performance. That has now got one reporter at least, calling for the Wales international to start against Millwall.
Speaking on the Total Saints Podcast about what changes Southampton might need to make for that game, Daily Echo journalist Alfie House said: “David Brooks for me, has to start on Saturday. I can understand why he didn’t, I can understand why kept the same team.
“But Adam Armstrong just looks a little bit tired at the minute. I don’t know if it’s just so hard going in behind the channels every time, and he’s also coming in short to try and make tackles, to try and get the ball himself.
“But when David Brooks came on, he just seemed to pop up in so many different areas that Adam Armstrong wasn’t, he was picking the ball up out on the left and putting it back inside the box. I think the goal came from something like that, the chances they did have came from that.”
Russell Martin facing big Southampton selection call
It is going to be a tough decision for Martin to make when it comes to Brooks and Armstrong as alluded to in these comments.
Armstrong has been excellent for Southampton for much of this campaign. Indeed, he is still their top scorer for the season.
As a result, it would be a gamble to take him out of the side, and one that would see Martin scrutinised if his side miss chances and fail to win that game.
However, Armstrong has started every league match that Southampton have played so far this season.
At some point, that is going to take its toll from a physical perspective. Once that happens, he will not have the energy to make the impact he has previously been doing.
There may be a case to be made that we saw that on Tuesday, where he struggled to get into the game against Hull City.
Given Brooks did then make more of an impression when stepping into that role, it could be something to try in the lineup on Saturday.
That may give Southampton the chance to make a stronger start in that game. In would also provide Armstrong with a chance to recover, that could see him make a bigger impression further down the line.