Southampton failed to defeat a relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers on the weekend and are now all but resigned to a play-off campaign.
Russell Martin‘s side secured back-to-back wins heading into the international break and many felt they could make a late surge for the top two.
But since returning, they’ve failed to win any of the three games that ensued and now reside 12 points adrift of Ipswich Town, who occupy second.
With a 12-point gap on seventh-placed Coventry City, a spot in the top six is almost nailed on, so there’s little to play for in these remaining seven fixtures.
Whilst that’s obviously extremely disappointing, it does allow Martin the opportunity to experiment, a little, and try to play players into form.
One player he should consider giving an opportunity to is Tyler Dibling.
Russell Martin should give Tyler Dibling a chance
Martin will need to find his best-starting line-up ahead of the fast-approaching play-offs and he’ll also need to assess what his best bench is.
The latter is not usually a problem for most Championship managers but given the strength in depth across Southampton‘s squad, he has to give it some thought.
That is partially because of the talent in the Staplewood academy, as there are some very bright teenagers coming through the ranks.
One of those is Dibling, who has impressed in the under-21 set-up this term, netting four times whilst laying on as many assists in the Premier League 2.
Having only turned 18 in February, he is still vastly inexperienced but he has that natural fearlessness in his game, as evinced in the video above.
The left-footed attacker has already made five first-team appearances and Martin is well aware of just how talented he is.
Russell Martin well aware of Tyler Dibling
Speaking after his Championship debut against Sheffield Wednesday back in January, Martin heaped praise on the teenager and admitted that he is ready.
“He’s ready, otherwise he wouldn’t get on the pitch,” The Saints boss said.
“He can do special things and physically he is very good but I don’t want to build him up too much because he is only 17.
Martin added that he must work on the out-of-possession aspect of his game and should look at Adam Armstrong for inspiration.
“The challenge for Tyler will be now and until he establishes himself in the team, which I hope he does here under us.
“It is to get up to speed with the intensity of the game. He can already play a few different positions.
“But it is everything we speak about with Adam Armstrong out of possession, running for other people and all that stuff.”