Jordy Claise has been the forgotten man of the Saints squad after spending nearly three months out of action with hamstring injury, now he is set to return.

Jordie Clasie's arival at Southampton Football Club had been much anticipated, Ronald Koeman had been after him pretty much since he arrived at St Mary's, at Feyenoord Clasie had been a key player for Koeman and had been his Captain, now he was going to be a key member for him at Saints and the rumour was that Clasie might be better than Schneiderlin the man whom he was replacing.

But his competitive debut for Saints would last barely an hour, as he limped off against Vitesse Arnhem, little did the sell out crowd know that it would be nearly three months before they would see him in action again.

Since then Clasie has had to work his way back to fitness slowly and now after an appearance for the academy side as well as a run out in a closed doors friendly against Ajax, he is ready to rejoin the squad.

Although Saints have plenty of option in the centre of midfield, the truth is that none have the passing ability of Clasie, Wanyama & Romeu are combative players of the same ilk, Steven Davis is a worker adept at moving the ball on quickly but with short passes and James Ward Prowse although of undoubted ability is at that stage he needs to show it.

Last season the two central holding roles were held by Schneiderlin and Wanyama, this season with Clasie unavailable in the Premier League so far it has been more transient, at Chelsea Romeu & Wanyama provided fight and then JWP came on to add a bit more passing, but the truth is neither pairing has clicked as did last season's regular two.

But that could all change with Clasie, even last season Ronald Koeman was not completely satisfied with the Schneiderlin/Wanyama combo, it was brilliant against tough opposition, but against lesser sides, especially at home it was a little too cumbersome, neither player could move the ball as quickly as Koeman would have liked and in the early part of the season Jack Cork was often preferred to Wanyama as he could move the ball quicker.

The acquisition of Clasie looked to solve that problem, Clasie was noted for his ability like Schneiderlin to win the ball in front of his own defence, but reports from Holland suggested that what he had that the Frenchman didn't have, was the ability to play it forward quickly and accurately, turning defence into attack in an instant.

Saints fans were looking forward to seeing if that was the case, but Clasie did not have the chance to show it, an hour against Vitesse was not enough time to make an impact, although some of our more volatile supporters have been on message boards with their verdict after only that brief display.

Now Clasie is set to return to the squad against Leicester City, but it is unlikely that he will start the game, he will probably have to settle for a place on the bench at best with perhaps a late cameo should the game allow it.

One thing is for sure though, Ronald Koeman knows Clasie well, he rates him highly and he hasn't got much wrong in the transfer market so far, he will see the player as a vital component of his squad and his return will offer the manager yet another option, last season we did not have those options, so far this we have not either, in the coming weeks we have, it could be an exciting season.

Photo: Action Images

simmo400 added 10:32 - Oct 13 Forgot he was our player. Sub appearances only me thinks until hes proper fit.
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legod7 added 12:02 - Oct 13 If we had lost at Chelsea I think he would be in the starting line up. But I think RK will go with the team that started the second half against Chelsea. Wanyama JWP & Davis the midfield three.
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SaintBrock added 16:05 - Oct 13 Good luck to the lad. Maybe get 20 minutes near the end if all going well.
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bstokesaint added 19:18 - Oct 13 Hallelujah. Not knowing him any better I do hope this injury spell is a one-off. It concerns me with new players. A lot of people have been hanging a lot of hope on him, so I really hope he delivers. If he does Ron has a nice team selection headache.
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BaselSaint added 11:45 - Oct 14 its inconceivable that RK would rate Classie so highly if he wasn't the real deal. Once he has properly adapted to the PL he will surely come good.
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SaintBrock added 22:51 - Oct 14 The lad explains in the video interview that this is his first ever serious injury so bstokesaint you can relax. Good players don't suddenly become bad players so look forward to some good times ahead.
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