The Dutch keeper came in on loan to deputise for Fraser Forster until he returned from injury, but just how well did he do during that time ?

Maarten Stekelenburg arrived at St Mary's on a year long loan from Fulham with the idea being that he would deputise for Fraser Forster, with Saints at the start of the season being unsure just how long that the big English keeper would be sidelined for.

Stekelenburg arrived with a good reputation having played for the Netherlands in a World Cup Final in 2010 and enjoying many fine seasons with Ajax, but it had all started to go a bit pear shaped when he joined Fulham at the start of the 2013/14 season.

The problem for Saints was getting a quality deputy for Forster given that it was obvious that any keeper who came in would be keeping the shirt warm for his return and Stekelenburg fitted the bill in this respect in that he had the pedigree and given his position back at Fulham who were trying to offload him to reduce their wage bill he could come on loan.

All in all Stekelenburg played 17 games for Saints, missing 3 through injury, the best description of his performances would be that of steady, whilst he did nothing wrong, on the other hand he did not seem to make many saves of real note either, he just didn't seem to pull off the odd blinding save that won us a point here or there as Fraser Forster has done since his return.

That meant that there was no danger of Forster having to wait until a drop in form from the Dutchman before he could return to the side after injury.

But Stekelenburg did not d a bad job, he was steady and up to the task in the main, there were worse goalkeepers than him in the Premier, but he just didn't have that extra something that made him special as Forster had.

It is interesting to see that Saints are looking to sign him on a permanent basis and that is probably a good thing, it would be difficult to get a better keeper in who would be willing to sit on the bench with no real chance of a game barring an injury to Forster.

So overall a 7/10 rating for Stekelenburg, like his performances with a few more saves it could have been an 8, but if he had made some errors it could have been a 6, straight down the middle for Maarten just like his season.

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