Southampton got out of Colchester with a 2-0 win in the cup, but the talking point wasn't the result. It was the difference that the substitutes made.
Cyle Larin came off the bench and broke the deadlock late, with young Romeo Akachukwu poking in a second soon after. That cameo might just have won Larin a place in the starting lineup for Watford.
Because the man he could replace had an evening to forget.
Larin in, and a striker sweating
Ben Brereton Diaz started up top at Colchester and barely influenced the game. Eighteen touches in 62 minutes, from a forward handed a rare run-out, is not the competitive audition he needed.
Saints Marching reckons Larin comfortably takes that shirt for the trip to Vicarage Road. Hard to argue with it. The Chilean faded in and out all match, while Larin's first act off the bench was to score.
There's cover behind them, too. Cameron Archer and Damion Downs give Eckert other options through the middle if Larin isn't quite ready to go the full 90.
So Brereton Diaz, whose future beyond the window is still up in the air, could find himself back among the reserves at St Mary's. That's how quickly a cameo can shuffle the pack.
The knock-on down the spine
The changes might not stop up front. Cameron Bragg caught the eye off the bench in Essex and could earn a start alongside Flynn Downes as one of two holding midfielders.
That tweak has a ripple. It would let Kuryu Matsuki push higher to the right wing, a spot that brought him four goals last season, and Saints Marching flagged the selection headache Eckert now faces.
The man under threat from that switch is Tom Fellows. He blew hot and cold at Colchester, with three key passes on the plus side but only one shot and one duel won to show for the rest.
There were other bright cameos to analyse, as well. Finn Azaz got 15 minutes as he eases back from a shin problem and looked lively on the ball before threading a perfectly weighted pass into Romeo Akachukwu to open his senior account in time added on.
None of this is settled, of course. Eckert has a full bench of options, so a couple of these calls could still swing either way.
What is clear is the direction of travel. Larin's late goal has nudged him clear ahead of Brereton Diaz whose days at St Mary's must surely be numbered; Bragg is knocking on the door in the absence of Jander, and a fresh-looking Southampton could take the field at Vicarage Road.
Add us as a preferred source on Google