With a bright future ahead, Southampton should prioritise Jack Stephens over Martin Caceres.
Martin Caceres has twice been an unused substitute for the Saints
New Southampton defender Martin Caceres played 90 minutes for the under-23 side this week, his first action in more than a year.
He helped keep a clean sheet in the game with Chelsea 0-0, and predictably that has lead to calls for him to come into the first team for the next match against Tottenham.
There should be no hurry however to put the Uruguayan into the team, no matter how eye-catching it was when he nutmegged an inexperienced opponent.
The reality of Southampton’s situation is that the games between now and the end of the season are largely irrelevant and whether the side finish eighth or fourteenth the difference going forward will be negligible.
Because of this, a short-term fix like Caceres, who as it stands will leave in the summer, shouldn’t be prioritised over Jack Stephens who, aged 23, offers a long-term solution at the position.
Jack Stephens is a regular for the England under-21 side
Southampton may have conceded too many goals of late but to blame that on Stephens is simplistic and unfair as there are others in the rearguard, namely Fraser Forster and Oriol Romeu, who have been underperforming.
Displays like the one at Anfield in the EFL Cup semi-final show what Stephens is capable of and he hasn’t looked out of place in the Premier League so far. More game time will only aid his development.
Unless Caceres is pulling up trees in training Claude Puel should, with the long-term picture in mind, pick Stephens for every remaining game of the season.
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