Can this Southampton youngster give Cyle Larin competition up top?

Cyle Larin proved that he isn't a goal-scoring cyborg every match for Southampton against Birmingham City.

LIke the finest strikers in the beautiful game, Larin will be prone to a drop-off in performance here and there, with the Brampton Bagsman unable to add to his blistering tally of five goals for the season so far at St. Andrew's.

It was a sloppy night from the experienced marksman, truth be told, with the usually lethal Canadian squandering three efforts during the 1-1 draw, which is very unlike him.

Divin Mubama couldn't come on and add any late firepower, either, as he failed to hit a single shot at James Beadle's net from his late runout.

Both the underperforming number nine, and his Manchester City loanee counterpart, are the two main senior options up top for Tonda Eckert, with both Ben Brereton Diaz and Cameron Archer being loaned out.

Damion Downs follows closely behind, but his proposed loan switch to Saint Louis City SC hasn't yet been confirmed.

It does leave the South Coast side a little light up top, especially if injuries hit their centre-forward ranks, but it could end up being a great opportunity for this homegrown youngster to stake a claim to be in and around the German's set-up for good.

The homegrown youngster named on the bench

When Southampton fans scanned over the starting XI for the game against Chris Davies' men, they would've been taken aback by this surprise inclusion on the bench.

Indeed, Eckert named Princewill Ehibhatiomhan among his substitute options for the showdown with the Blues, for his first ever inclusion on the senior stage.

The towering 20-year-old didn't end up coming on, but it would've been a proud moment for the Milton Keynes-born striker regardless, having been attached to Southampton since 2023.

At the close of the underwhelming 1-1 draw, Eckert confirmed that the 6-foot-3 youngster would be involved in first-team action consistently this season, alongside fellow promising starlet, Romeo Akachukwu.

Akachukwu has even scored this campaign in an early round of the EFL Cup, so the hope will be that Ehibhatiomhan can get off the mark, too, in the senior side soon, with the 20-year-old potentially giving Larin healthy competition, alongside Mubama.

Could he give Larin healthy competition up top?

Ehibhatiomhan will be desperate to prove that he's been selected alongside the likes of Larin not just because of the light numbers in attack, but because he's worthy of a first-team spot on merit alone.

He has struggled out on loan away from the comforts of St. Mary's, with only three goals falling into his back pocket on loan at Swindon Town and Salford City.

Still, Cameron Bragg didn't always look comfortable when he was temporarily on the books of Crawley Town, and now he's a consistent starter under Eckert.

The hope will be, while he's struggled away from his parent club when the spotlight has been thrust onto him, that he can live up to his blistering U21 goalscoring heroics in the main team down the line.

Indeed, when he was named on the substitutes bench on Tuesday night, the Daily Echo's Alfie House branded the 20-year-old as a "free-scoring" figure for the U21s, with Ehibhatiomhan bagging two quickfire goals during his last outing for Adam Lallana's side against Everton.

In total, he has 21 goals from 2949 minutes in this esteemed set-up, with the U21s producing the likes of Tyler Dibling over the years, among other prominent names.

He could be the next one off the conveyeor belt to shine in the men's fold, therefore, but don't expect his senior minutes to be plentiful just yet, as he has some way to go before he's at Larin's frightening levels, even if the one-time Orlando City striker kept firing frustrating blanks at St. Andrew's.

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