Southampton 0-0 Stoke City: Three key players

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - MARCH 03: Sofiane Boufal of Southampton heads the ball under pressure from Moritz Bauer of Stoke during the Premier League match between Southampton and Stoke City at St Mary's Stadium on March 3, 2018 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) /

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – MARCH 03: Maxim Choupo-Moting of Stoke City goes down as he is tackled by Jack Stephens and Alex McCarthy of Southampton during the Premier League match between Southampton and Stoke City at St Mary’s Stadium on March 3, 2018 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images) /

Alex McCarthy

Southampton stopper Alex McCarthy enjoyed another solid afternoon in goal, keeping his fourth clean sheet since taking the reigns from Fraser Forster in December.

The Englishman made a number of key saves including a fingertip stop towards the end of the first half to keep the Saints in the game.

McCarthy’s consistency since moving into the first team to replace Fraser Forster has been crucial, and on several opportunities he has kept games alive for his side if not kept them in it.

Whilst he hasn’t kept as many clean sheets as he perhaps should’ve, it’s hard to think of many huge mistakes he has made unlike Forster he seemed to regularly make slip-ups week in, week out.