Southampton boss, Tonda Eckert, should be able to call on the services of both Léo Scienza and Shea Charles for the visit of Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night.
Both have been integral to the Saints’ recent upturn in form, which has seen the South Coast club go six league matches unbeaten.
One player who is back to his best
Léo Scienza was in great form on Saturday against Charlton Athletic; his cross for Ross Stewart’s goal was almost as good as the header itself.
Without Scienza, the team lacks the direct threat that the Brazilian’s dribbling offers. In the reverse fixture at Loftus Road, Scienza lit up a terribly attritional encounter with a run and shot that was worthy of winning any match.
That goal handed Eckert his first win as interim head coach that set the young German on his way to getting the permanent gig.
It is unlikely that Eckert will play with three at the back on Tuesday night, meaning that Scienza should be deployed further forward than he was in November.
Scienza was clearly rested at the end of the Charlton game; he is too valuable to Southampton to be missing on Tuesday night.
A subtle influence and a fox in the box
Shea Charles’ influence has been far more subtle. He has added aerial dominance and positional intelligence to the midfield, something that is missing when Flynn Downes and Caspar Jander play together in the holding roles.
Charles is a much more insightful reader of the game than those two and, like Jander, he can nick a goal or two.
The goal he scored in injury time to cap off the comeback at Leicester City will live long in the memory of anyone who witnessed it.
Charles has seized the opportunity to reclaim his place in the first team with both hands, and he is now ahead of both Jander and Downes in the midfield pecking order.
The 22-year-old was the best player under Will Still, admittedly, during a rather unimpressive start to the season for the team. Nevertheless, he was ever-present until he picked up an injury at Blackburn Rovers that kept him out of the side until recently. Saturday’s start against Charlton was his first since returning from injury.
For that reason, Eckert may rest Charles on Tuesday night and bring Jander back into the starting lineup. Cameron Bragg may also be in contention for a recall.
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