Daniel Peretz will keep the gloves. He earned his place in Eckert's starting eleven at St Andrew's by refusing to charge out while Jay Stansfield bore down on him. Eckert made a point of praising that decision afterwards.
There will be no change in front of the Israeli. James Bree on the right, Ryan Manning on the left. Welington will have to wait despite Manning's shaky defending on Tuesday night.
Nathan Wood has quietly turned into a better player without Harwood-Bellis alongside him, and Keven Schlotterbeck looks every inch a top Championship player.
BULLET header 💪 pic.twitter.com/HvzZK9hvu0
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) September 1, 2026
The midfield call Eckert has already made
Cameron Bragg drops out, even though he did nothing wrong in Birmingham to deserve it.
Bragg's rapid rise has been well documented. Eckert has gone the other way because Lincoln City will not hand over the space that Birmingham did.
The Imps have managed two clean sheets in a row and will be difficult to break down. With a home crowd roaring every headed clearance and a back four sitting deep, Ward-Prowse's passing quality will be a premium asset.
Unlocking the Lincoln defence will be a responsibility that Ward-Prowse could enjoy, and with the front four that Saints have ahead of him, he not only has the pick and the key, but he also has the sledgehammer and the battering ram too!
The front four that keeps picking itself
Leo Scienza will start out on the left and is running into some good form. Two goals and two assists in his last two appearances.
Tom Fellows may just start on the right, largely because he likes to run at tight defences, and that could be key to finding a way through Lincoln's stubborn defence.
Finn Azaz plays behind Cyle Larin, and if you want the simplest explanation of why a side sitting on minus four points a fortnight ago now has the best goal difference in the bottom third, it is that the Irishman keeps sliding the ball into places where the Canadian only has a goalkeeper left to beat. Five league goals in four games says the supply line works.
🚨 Tonda Eckert has confirmed that James Ward-Prowse will start for Southampton at Lincoln tomorrow #saintsfc @DanJHargraves pic.twitter.com/TUA403xv5C
— SaintsExtra (@SaintsExtra) September 4, 2026
Zach Abbott travels, though he will not start. Eckert wants to bed him in over the coming weeks. Abbott was training on his own on Wednesday, so the head coach is hardly going to hand him a 12.30 kick-off in Lincolnshire three days later.
The eleven, then. Peretz; Bree, Wood, Schlotterbeck, Manning; Downes, Ward-Prowse; Fellows, Azaz, Scienza; Larin.
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