Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert raised eyebrows on star winger after Boxing Day clash at Oxford United

“We will need him again for the next three games,” Eckert later explained. “We need to make sure that the players get through the four games.”

It was Scienza’s earliest substitution of the season, having completed at least 60 minutes in every match except one since his first start on October 4.

The 27 year old completed back-to-back 90-minute performances in each of the last two Championship outings, against Norwich and Coventry.

But there were almost complete weeks between each of the games, so Eckert’s decision was purely proactive, ahead of a busy festive schedule.

Saints are playing three times next week. They go to Birmingham on Monday and host Millwall on Thursday before Sunday’s long trip to Middlesbrough.

Will Still suffered the consequences of going against medical advice and overloading a player when Shea Charles pulled his hamstring at Blackburn.

So it is no surprise managers want to make the right decisions to maximise their points intake over the festive period, and keeping players fit is key.

The schedule is new to Scienza. Last season, due to the winter break in Germany, he did not play a match between December 20 and January 11.

The season before that, when the Brazilian was playing in the 3.Liga, there was over a month between his appearances at this time of year.

Clearly, heading to Oxford, Eckert will have had in mind the physical output he was willing to let Scienza exert before he was to be put back on ice.

It will have been dynamic too, rather than an arbitrary minutes limit. This is demonstrated by his use of Tom Fellows, who played for 70 minutes.

“His output in the first half was not as high as we expected, so we could keep him on the pitch for a little bit longer,” explained the 32 year old.

So the question is effectively a risk assessment. Withdraw Scienza earlier at Kassam Stadium, and he can play for longer at St Andrew’s on Monday night.

Birmingham will be, in theory, the tougher game. After all, they are midtable, not in the bottom three, and they are one of the form sides at home.

But points are worth the same regardless of where they come, and Saints can no longer afford to drop too many. At Oxford, they failed to take even one.

Maybe Scienza’s withdrawal made little impact on the final score. His replacement, Jay Robinson, was one of the more lively second-half players.

However, we have seen early changes potentially derail Eckert’s side, and the second-half performances under the boss have been subpar.

After Saints nearly blew a three-goal lead against West Brom, technical director Johannes Spors openly warned against losing full focus.

“The positive thing is we learned without losing points. The reality of the West Brom game was that we needed to keep our concentration longer,” he said.

“It felt like the game was decided after 60 minutes, but it’s not. I remember a Germany game where they were 4-0 up against Sweden and drew 4-4.

“It points the finger to the problems that are still there, even though we won so many games, and to keep the focus and concentration high is important.”

Eckert has a potential problem generally with substitutions and second halves. They have only ‘won’ three of the 10 during his tenure, ‘losing’ four.

It is difficult to point to any in-game personnel changes he has made that have really shifted the momentum. Yes, often, they are comfortably ahead.

He does not have the same level of quality sat behind him in the dugout as he watches out on the pitch. With each change, Saints usually get worse.

“I think the in-game solutions are always the hardest part,” added Spors. “I think Tonda is pretty good at that, and we have learned lessons already.”

Defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis has pointed out that the teams that win Championship promotion put points on the board during this busy period.

If Saints are to be one of those teams, Eckert needs to more effectively use his squad. Does that mean managing game by game, rather than in blocks?