Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has confirmed that Kyle Walker-Peters is fit to face West Ham at the weekend.

The right-back watched on from the stands as Southampton beat Villa 2-0 last weekend, as he was ruled out with a calf injury.

Speaking to Southampton’s website, Hasenhuttl said:

Walker-Peters is back in training.

He’s trained well this week. That’s one more option we have.

Despite Walker-Peters being fit, Southampton’s best option could be an unchanged team. Ward-Prowse lined up at right-back against Villa and was excellent, scoring a rating of 7.6 from WhoScored for his performance up against Jack Grealish.

The English central midfielder was playing out of position, but was still able to produce a top-class display/

JWP playing at the back allowed 20-year-old Will Smallbone to make his Premier League debut in central midfield alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Smallbone also caught the eye, with a calm showing in the middle of the park. His passing was crisp and quick as he moved the ball to keep Southampton in possession and allow them to dominate Villa throughout the match.

Southampton could be better off sticking with the same XI and trying to produce a similar performance against West Ham, rather than disrupting the team again and bringing Walker-Peters in.

They should see if they can dominate and pick up the three points against West Ham and if they can’t, then that’s when they should think about Walker-Peters coming back in at right-back.

Should Walker-Peters start?

Yes

No