With Florin Gardos still doubtful for the match against West Bromwich Albion the question is whether Ronald Koeman will look to the future in the centre of defence or keep faith with Yoshida.
One of the the things we know about Ronald Koeman is that he is not afraid to give youth a chance, he seems to be able to spot something in a player and indeed inspire that confidence in them to step up to the plate as was shown in the number of young Feyenoord players who have been in the Dutch squad recently.
Last week with new signing Florin Gardos injured Koeman went for the experienced by putting in Yoshida in the centre of defence, with respect to the Japanese International in his two years at the club he has hardly set the world alight, at times he looks competent enough, but there always seems to be part of the game where he is caught napping, it may only be the odd moment but it can often be costly.
Jack Stephens could be said to be the forgotten man at St Mary's, he arrived in April 2011 from Plymouth as a hot prospect, having only just turned 17 he had already played in the Plymouth first team and with Saints heading into the Championship there were those that thought he might make his breakthrough in 2011/12.
Instead he sunk into the background, as Saints stormed to promotion they bought in Jos Hooiveld and apart from a 3 minute cameo appearance at the end of Saints FA Cup win that season at Coventry City he never got near the first team again.
At the end of last season he went on loan to Swindon Town and in 10 games impressed, so much so that the Swindon manager Mark Cooper was very public in wanting to try and get him back for this season, however after our friendly up there his tune changed and he intimated that Stephens might be more of a part of Koeman's plans than he had been of his predecessor.
Last week at Liverpool Stephens was sat on the bench and that was a significant gesture from Koeman, yes it isnt uncommon to have an extra defender on the bench in an away game with Saints also having Jos Hooiveld, but it showed that Stephens is in Koeman's thinking, if the Dutch manager did not rate Stephens then with Wanyama and Cork also able to play in the centre of defence he could have made do with just the one central defender in reserve.
So as he approaches 21 its a big season for Stephens and it seems that under Ronald Koeman he might just get his chance, whether it will be against West Bromwich Albion remains to be seen, perhaps the manager would have preferred to get a real look at him in a competitive game in the Capital One up first, so in that respect this game might just be a week too soon for Stephens.
As a player Stephens seems to fit the Koeman blueprint in that he is able to play in a variety of positions including right back, given that Stephens is noted for his speed and mobility that might perhaps persuade Koeman that the time to give the youngster a debut is fast looming.