RUSSELL Martin believes that starting Jan Bednarek in Saints’ 1-0 loss to Ipswich would have been a “risk” given that the defender had only recently returned from injury.
After suffering an injury while on international duty with Poland, the Polish international missed Southampton’s 4-1 loss to Leicester on Friday night.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Shea Charles retained their defensive positions, with Bednarek coming on in the second half.
Martin explains why he chose to keep the youthful center-back pairing after the game on Tuesday night.
He said: “Bednarek has been injured. He only came back on Friday afternoon from the international break with Poland and getting treatment there.
“He was unable to train on Saturday and had only trained for one day.” It would have been a gamble to throw him in and ask him to play 90 minutes.
“It also meant we could maintain some level of consistency with the players, as we hadn’t been able to play the same team all season.”
“When Jan came on, I thought he was fantastic. It was fantastic to see him back on the field. He went through tonight, so maybe he’ll be good to play on Saturday.”
Charles’ blunder as the teenage Northern Ireland international attempted to send the ball out from the back resulted in Ipswich’s lone goal.
“We never worked on it,” Martin continued, “but Shea tried to show initiative and drive forward with the ball.”
“He is courageous. He is not a bother. He was brave throughout the game and is going to be terrific.
“He’s going to be better for it tonight.” That will teach him and help him grow. The folks in front of him ought to assist him out more.”
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