Southampton: Northampton knock Saints out of Checkatrade Trophy

Despite strolling to a 3-0 lead before the hour, the Saints’ young side have crashed out of the cup on penalties to a resurgent Northampton Town.

The League One side, who are managed by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, completed the second-half turnaround before comfortably winning the shoot-out 4-2.

Sharing a group with Peterborough and Cambridge United, the Saints finished third and thus exit the competition.

Southampton should take comfort from the fact that only three of the youth sides involved in the competition progressed and only two finished top of their respective groups.

Known officially as the EFL Trophy, it was re-branded last year to include various under-21 sides from the Championship and Premier League, having previously been exclusive to the lower tiers of English football. Saints fans will remember it well from when it was known as the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Last season the south coast outfit progressed as group leaders with seven points out of a possible nine, before losing on penalties in the second round to Reading’s academy after a 1-1 stalemate.

There was another silver lining from the 3-3 draw however, with Jake Hesketh impressing, and the fans calling for him to get a chance in the first team.

The attacking-midfielder scored a brace to help set the Saints up for what seemed to be a standard victory, before three Northampton goals saw the game be decided by spot-kicks.

Hesketh has previously featured in Southampton’s first team but injuries among other factors have seen the youngster struggle to get his chance – now could be as good a time as ever.

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Nathan Redmond and Dusan Tadic have struggled all season but remain in the starting XI due to a general lack of competition – Hesketh getting a chance ahead of them after the international break would be welcomed by the supporters.

Mauricio Pellegrino is swiftly losing the support of his fanbase after an indifferent start to the season, with the games only getting harder as we head into the winter period.

With the strikers remaining isolated and the attacking-midfielders failing to create much, the raw talent of Hesketh could provide the missing spark.