[ad_pod ]BBC Radio Solent journalist Adam Blackmore has revealed on Twitter that Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has hinted Fraser Forster could make a shock return to the starting XI for the trip to West Ham United on Saturday.
What’s the word, then?
Well, despite being the club’s first-choice option for a number of seasons previously, the 31-year-old hasn’t made a single appearance for Saints since the 5-2 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day 2017.
Firstly he paid for a run of poor form to find himself behind Alex McCarthy in the pecking order, and the arrival of Angus Gunn last summer only served to push him down to being the third-choice stopper.
From last minute penalties to being taken apart by local rivals, fans pick the moments that defined their clubs’ seasons in the video below…
However, he has returned to the fold and been on the substitutes’ bench in recent weeks with McCarthy injured, and now Hasenhuttl has suggested he could be named on the team-sheet at the London Stadium.
Blackmore tweeted: #saintsfc manager Ralph Hasenhuttl set to ring the changes at West Ham on Saturday. Told me that Fraser Forster might come in – “if you want to give him a chance it’s a good moment for this.”
Good idea?
It certainly is.
Southampton are safe now so the final two matches of the season are pressure-free and give Hasenhuttl a chance to look at some of the players he may not have seen a lot of – Forster included.
The Austrian will be able to make a judgement on whether the stopper is good enough to be involved next season, as well as putting him in the shop window should he have already decided that he wants to move the former Newcastle United man on during the summer window.
