Southampton: Do the Saints need to target ANOTHER striker?

Despite three goals already for the season for Danny Ings, Southampton may need to recruit fresh firepower up front in the January window.

The English forward has been a revelation since his loan move from Liverpool last month but as seen in the cup game against Brighton and this past weekend’s match against the Reds, the Saints seem toothless without him.

Outside of Ings, Mark Hughes has three senior forwards at his disposal who are all talented in their own ways, but ultimately seven games into the season they have just one goal between them – Austin’s header in the aforementioned cup match against the Seagulls.

Granted, Southampton have a willing and direct forward in Danny Ings and he can easily lead the line on his own, but it appears that the Saints boss is more keen on playing a 4-4-2 with two strikers and therefore one of the Saints’ remaining three (plus Sam Gallagher) will always get some game-time.

However, if that trio of strikers aren’t delivering on a regular basis – or any basis at all – then should the club consider recruiting another attacker in January?

Before we go any further I’d like to make it clear that irregardless of any comments of analysis, I’d be sad to see any of the Saints’ three veteran forwards go – but what we can’t ignore are the flaws that each of them have in their respective games. Austin doesn’t seem to be able to last 90 minutes and even so, he seems more sluggish and off the pace than normal.

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Long meanwhile will always give you 100% but he has just two goals in his last 50 Saints appearances and for a striker that’s simply unheard of in the Premier League. Finally in Gabbiadini they have a player who seems void of confidence or a role to play – he seems like he can never get a break and doesn’t have much of a job to do as things stand. All three could potentially leave in January.

Assuming Guido Carrillo doesn’t have a future at Southampton, then the Saints still haven’t brought in a suitable physical replacement for Graziano Pelle who left in the summer of 2016.

When you look at teams like Wolves, Fulham and Watford, all three of them have started the season well and all of them have a physical striker on their books.

The presence which a forward like those offer to bring others into play and to get onto the end of long balls can be vital to a mid-table team who need to grind out results when they’re up against it. We saw it with Pelle and Lambert for so many seasons but still haven’t brought in a similar player.

Ings is a brilliant forward but ultimately his injury record over the past three campaigns is still a cause for concern. If he is sidelined for several weeks or even months in the future I personally am concerned for our ability to score goals.

I love Austin, Gabbiadini and even Long but if we had to sacrifice one or two of them in order to spend £15 million on a new, physical forward than it would be a sacrifice worth making. Ings’ goals could keep us up on their own but we need more options than a Plan A.