Southampton put the finishing touches on their preparations for Saturday’s clash against Sheffield United on Thursday.
The first-team squad took to the St Mary’s Stadium pitch to continue gearing up for their trip to Bramall Lane as they look to make it four games unbeaten in all competitions.
Saints fans will have been encouraged by the presence of Moussa Djenepo, Michael Obafemi and Ryan Bertrand in the session following their respective struggles with injuries lately.
However, arguably more intriguingly, the club’s official website posted a training gallery of Thursday’s preparations, and Under-23 pair Callum Slattery and Christoph Klarer were in action with the senior squad.
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It hardly seems likely that Hasenhuttl will plunge either of these two in at the deep end against Sheffield United this weekend, but it is good to see that they’re involved in the first-team setup.
The boss hasn’t been shy of handing the players from the youth ranks opportunities to catch his eye in training, and it seems Slattery and Klarer were the latest of the club’s crop of youngsters to stake their claims.
As aforementioned, it would be a major surprise to see Hasenhuttl include either of them in the 18-man squad at Bramall Lane on Saturday – Saints have plenty of fit and available central midfielders and defenders – but they may well be handed chances as the season progresses.
Slattery was provided with his senior debut by Hasenhuttl last season, highlighting that he is not afraid to give the young playmaker the licence to show his quality amongst his older counterparts.
Klarer, meanwhile, has yet to make his first-team bow despite a string of impressive performances for both the Under-23 and Under-18 sides in recent years.
Perhaps, if Southampton had been drawn against any other League One side in the third round of the Carabao Cup this month, the youngsters would have been in line for their first starts of the season…
