Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster has insisted that he is comfortable with the central defensive partnership of Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida ahead of the EFL Cup final clash with Manchester United.

The England international spoke to the Daily Echo recently with the date at Wembley in mind, and appeared to be in confident mood ahead of his first final with Saints.

Everyone knows how good Virgil (van Dijk) is and, of course, his injury is disappointing for everyone. But ever since Jack (Stephens) has come in the team he’s done really well.

Forster has been part of a resilient Southampton squad that has kept five clean sheets out of a possible five in the run-up to the match, with the former Celtic man helping Saints to three of those.

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Saints are without Virgil van Dijk for the final though after he sustained an ankle injury against Leicester back in January, so they will be forced to use Stephens and Yoshida as the central defenders for the clash, unless Claude Puel makes a bold move in starting new signing Martin Caceres.

They’ve been fantastic ever since they’ve been together and with Berty (Ryan Bertrand) and Cedric (Soares) as well that back four is strong.

The pair put in a stellar display at Liverpool in the competition’s second leg of the semi-final, and they’ll be hoping to replicate the defensive solidity when the EFL Cup final arises on Sunday.

The way him and Maya (Yoshida) performed at Liverpool was fantastic and we were on the back foot for the best part of 90 minutes. They defended really well and as a partnership they get on really well and work very hard.