27-year-old Carabao Cup star could start in must-win Everton match

In the previous 1-0 away defeat against Manchester City, 27-year-old fullback James Bree made his first Premier League appearance for Southampton this season after two impressive displays against Cardiff City and Everton in the Carabao Cup. Bree replaced left-back Ryan Manning to provide more goalscoring chances for the Saints down the left flank as the visitors stepped up their efforts to score a 1-1 equaliser.

Although Russell Martin's side faced their eighth league defeat after that match, the former Aston Villa star's impressive fifteen-minute cameo was praised by a lot of Southampton fans. Moreover, with the recent injuries to Yukinari Sugawara and Will Smallbone, Martin decided to start Bree in the defence against Stoke City to rest Ryan Manning for the important upcoming match against Everton.

27-year-old Carabao Cup star could start in must-win Everton match

This was another great opportunity for Bree in the Carabao Cup and the 27-year-old displayed his defensive abilities in the first half as Southampton nearly managed to keep a clean-sheet going into half-time. Ashley Phillips scored a goal for Stoke City to make the score 2-1 after the first half and Tom Cannon levelled the score at 2-2 within ten minutes into the second half.

Southampton again gave away their 2-0 lead and it seemed that they may concede a few more goals as well, but Taylor Harwood-Bellis and James Bree managed to organise a rock-solid defence towards the end of the second half. In the last-minute of the match, Southampton went forward inside the final third to find a winning goal and James Bree's long-range effort from outside the box led the Saints to advance through to the fifth round of the Carabao Cup.

Similar to the 5-3 win over Cardiff City last month, Bree scored another important goal for Russell Martin's side who took their third consecutive win in the Carabao Cup despite a struggling start to their ongoing league campaign. After the match, Bree reflected his joy on scoring another match-winning goal for the Saints and also highlighted Southampton's mistakes while conceding two quick goals to level the game, saying,

"I think obviously I'm buzzing, buzzing to get another goal. And then to get the win on the board.

But I think a little bit frustrated as well, I think all the boys are a bit frustrated with how the game turned out."

- James Bree

This match was a great response from Southampton, who showed their resilience and ambition to secure the win despite giving away their two-goal lead early in the second half. The next match is against Everton and Bree's all-round performance in both attack as well as the defence could lead Russell Martin to give him a Premier League start against Sean Dyche's side as well.

Bree is a more balanced fullback than the more attack-oriented Ryan Manning and the defensive fullback Charlie Taylor, and playing him at left-back can allow Martin to use Kyle Walker-Peters in the right-back position as well. Moreover, Bree gave a rock-solid defensive performance against Everton in the Carabao Cup third round win, where he managed to keep Iliman Ndiaye and Beto from creating a lot of chances inside the box.

While Yukinari Sugawara has returned from his injury and Walker-Peters has been consistent this season, Bree could still get some playing time as a second half substitute. Moreover, it remains to be seen whether Martin decides to start Bree as a fullback alongside Sugawara in a three centre-back formation in the home fixture against Everton.