Russell Martin will know he needs all of his Southampton squad pulling in the same direction if the club are to turn around their poor start to the season.
Whilst a number of Southampton‘s players have been away on international duty, Russell Martin will have spent the break assessing what has gone wrong for his side so far in the Premier League.
Southampton’s record since their Premier League return reads three losses from three, with only one goal scored in the league.
Clearly something needs to change and Martin will be hoping the Saints can enjoy some success in the next block of fixtures starting with Manchester United on Saturday.
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The players who have been on international duty will be key to that and Martin has seen real dedication as one star who played for his country last night has been spotted back in training already today.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis in Southampton training after playing for England U-21 on Monday night
The likes of Jan Bednarek, Will Smallbone, Yukinari Sugawara and Ben Brereton Diaz have all been away on senior international duty, with a number of Southampton’s younger talents representing their respective nations at youth level.
One such player is Taylor Harwood-Bellis, with the 22-year-old captain of England’s under-21 side.
Harwood-Bellis played 90 minutes in England’s 0-0 Euro under-21 qualifier draw with Northern Ireland on Friday night before playing the first-half of the 4-1 friendly win over Austria on Monday night.
The early withdrawal led to slight concern amongst Saints fans that the centre-back may have picked up an injury but it looks as though it was a planned substitution to manage workload.
In fact, Harwood-Bellis has already returned to Staplewood after playing at Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road last night and can be seen in Southampton’s training video posted on X this afternoon with the caption: “Boys at base.”
Nathan Wood also joined up with England under-21s but played just eight minutes across the two fixtures in this international break.
Ross Stewart also features in Southampton training video
Another notable inclusion in the training footage is Ross Stewart.
Southampton paid £10 million to sign Stewart from Sunderland last summer despite the fact he had a long-term Achilles injury and the striker made his long-awaited debut off the bench in November.
However, after another short cameo the following match Stewart suffered a hamstring injury that saw him out until the final game of the regular season against Leeds United.
Stewart made his longest appearance of his Saints career so far in the first-leg of the play-offs await West Brom as he played 30 minutes before picking up a knock.
Southampton fans were surprised that Stewart was then not involved once in pre-season and is yet to make a squad in the opening weeks of the campaign.
The only real clarity given regarding Stewart’s situation is Martin suggesting the club do not want to rush the 28-year-old back, but his sighting in training could mean he is edging closer to a return with Southampton yet to really see what the centre-forward has to offer.