Southampton must regret not signing this star after he scored two goals

If Southampton hadn't been handed a four point deduction for their involvement in Spygate, Tonda Eckert's men would currently be positioned in the expanded playoffs in the Championship.

Indeed, losing only one of your opening five games is playoff contending material, but there will still be a disappointment in the air that the Saints only managed to collect a point at Lincoln City on Saturday lunchtime, with the Imps tipped for the drop.

While Southampton stumbled to a 1-1 draw, Stoke City collected a second win in quick succession in the league to leap up to 12th, with this reported Saints transfer target bagging two goals, as Charlton Athletic were put to sword 4-0 by the resurgent Potters.

The Saints transfer target who scored twice for Stoke

Stoke have suddenly clicked into gear, after they depressingly lost 3-1 at the hands of Eckert and Co. last month.

The last-ditch addition of Justin Devenny helped them massively in cruising to a comprehensive win against ex-manager Nathan Jones, with the Saints looking at the 22-year-old, before he moved to the Bet365 Stadium on deadline day.

Alongside the likes of Celtic and Middlesbrough, Devenny was very firmly on Southampton's radar in the wake of Shea Charles moving to Fulham, but no such move would come to fruition, opening the door for him to relocate to Stoke, instead.

He enjoyed a dream debut during that straightforward Charlton win, with two goals tucked away confidently by the Northern Irishman, who only had five senior Palace goals next to his name, before calling Staffordshire home.

The first was a coolly taken penalty, with the second being a delightful flicked effort which wrongfooted the frustrated opposition keeper.

The South Coast titans must be slightly irked that they didn't manage to win Devenny, after being interested in his services for so long, with Robins noting that the young midfielder is "really calm and cool" in pressurised situations post-match.

Southampton could regret not signing him

Eckert would have loved a goalscoring midfielder to pop up with a moment of magic against Lincoln to decide a cagey affair.

Leo Scienza was desperately unlucky not to score when his solo effort clipped the post during the second half, but James Ward-Prowse didn't ever look like scoring centrally. Rather, the number 30 is built to be unselfish, with his ridiculous passing range.

The German, if he had Devenny at his disposal at Sincil Bank, could have placed him into the team late on in Finn Azaz's place, who was anonymous throughout, with the 22-year-old acting as a potential great option to have as a number ten when the one-time Middlesbrough maestro is below-par.

Capable of offering another body centrally, too, with Caspar Jander still out of action, it will be a regret on Southampton's mind that they didn't push harder to win Devenny, with Stoke benefitting massively from the Saints' inaction.

Of course, it is only one game, so it's unlikely that the brand-new Potters number 13 will be at this electric level every single match.

Moreover, Southampton didn't end up dropping the cash on Devenny as it was likely deemed a move for Keven Schlotterbeck made more sense, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis leaving, with Ward-Prowse then returning for a cheap £800k.

It will be intriguing to see how the Northern Irishman fares over a longer period of time at Stoke, but if his unbelievable debut is anything to go by, Southampton have dropped the ball not trying to get a move over the line.

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