Virgil Van Dijk opened the scoring as a strong Saints U23 side beat Stoke City at Staplewood this evening.
Saints put out a strong side against Stoke City on Monday evening with Virgil Van Dijk again starting in a back four that included Matt Targett on his return from injury and it was Targett who took the corner from which Van Dijk opened the scoring after 14 minutes.
The Dutch defender could have had another with Target again the provider, but this time the ball was cleared off the line, but the lead was doubled on the stroke of half time with Callum Slattery firing home.
It was the Van Dijk/Targett combination again in the second half with this time the Dutchman being fouled in the area and Targett despatching the spot kick to make it a convincing night for the academy side, although this was to be the end of the scoring in a 3-0 win.
With Van Dijk getting 90 minutes under his belt it increases speculation that he will start against Manchester United on Saturday, the big question though is that if he starts will it be at the expense of Maya Yoshida with the manager sticking with the back four formation that he started with at Crystal Palace or will he go with the three central defender line up that he finished the game with.
From a Saints perspective it was another step forward for Virgil Van Dijk although his appearance on Saturday if he plays, is bound to provoke a reaction in the home crowd, however he has to return sometime and Saturday is as good a time as ever.
On Saturday he looked sluggish and was struggling with his timing especially in the air, this game along with another week of training however will go a long way towards sharpening his fitness.