A couple of years ago Dom Ballard looked to be on the verge of breaking into Saints first team, but since then his career has been hit by injuries and now he has been recalled to St Mary's from Blackpool, but not for good reasons.
Ballard burst on the scene at the start of the 2022/23 season with a goal in the Carabao Cup at Cambridge United, he would make a further appearance in the FA Cup against Grimsby as a late sub followed by a couple of sub appearances in the Premier League at the tail end of the season all just as had reached his 18th birthday.
Southampton fans had high hopes for him, but it was felt by those at the club he needed a season out on loan and he joined Reading and his former manager at Saints Ruben Selles but a promising season was cut short by a knee injury and after recovering from that he was loaned out to Blackpool for this season.
That too started well, he scored in his second League One game, ironically at Cambridge United again, before a shoulder injury disrupted his season, that didnt mean he missed many games, but Blackpool manager Steve Bruce as reported in The Daily Echo feels that he has never really been the same player since.
"I don’t know if his shoulder injury has blighted him a little bit, but since that day at Huddersfield, we unfortunately haven’t seen the best of him.
"Whether the actual shoulder dislocated and came out, our physios are convinced and they put it back. For four or five weeks, he wasn’t the same.
"I wish him the best, he’s a great kid and a great lad to have around the dressing room. He had a great start, but unfortunately in the last couple of months, we haven’t seen the best of him.
"Young players need time to adapt. They come here for that valuable experience. I picked him in my first two or three games, but whatever happened that day against Huddersfield, we haven’t seen the best of him since.
"I hope he gets over that and gets physically and mentally right because the kid is a very good footballer. If he can stay fit and healthy then he’s got an outstanding chance.”
The Blackpool manager then went on to explain that Southampton have decided to recall him and that this is more a medical issue than anything else, Ballard has been involved in games, mainly off the bench, so it is not a lack of game time, so the former Manchester United defender feels that Saints are more concerned about his shoulder injury.
"Southampton have invoked it so we have to respect that. When I walked through the door, Dom Ballard was fresh and bright.
"I don’t know if his shoulder injury has blighted him a little bit, but since that day at Huddersfield, we unfortunately haven’t seen the best of him.
"Whether the actual shoulder dislocated and came out, our physios are convinced and they put it back. For four or five weeks, he wasn’t the same."
So it seems that the recall is more about assessing the shoulder injury and whether it needs an operation, than a playing issue, this being the case, those Saints supporters who are thinking he might well be the answer to our striking options, may well be mistaken.
Given how he has struggled to find his form at Blackpool in League One it would be folly to throw him into the car crash that at the moment is Saints Premier League season, not turning 20 until April he still lacks the experience that Saints had hoped that he would have got by now, the total of his two loan spells in League One is 16 games started and another 12 from the bench with 4 goals scored, so I would suggest that although he still has promise, he is not the answer to our problems this season, but in the Championship in the next one, he has the potential to be the surprise success.
Saints have confirmed that he will be reintegrated into the U21 squad and that they may consider another loan deal after he has been assessed.