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Southampton’s attack could become even more terrifying against Derby

Tonda Eckert will be tempted to start this exciting Southampton attacker, as Derby County travel to St. Mary's on Saturday.
Wrexham v Southampton - Sky Bet Championship - SToK Racecourse
Wrexham v Southampton - Sky Bet Championship - SToK Racecourse | Nick Potts - PA Images/GettyImages

Tonda Eckert is now becoming widely known as an extremely promising manager at Southampton.

Earlier in the season, the German was the Saints' well-kept secret, as he resurrected the South Coast side's failing campaign.

Now, he is no longer gaining acclaim just inside his St. Mary's bubble, with a sensational 2-1 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup, firmly shoving the 33-year-old head coach into the spotlight.

He clearly loves this newfound attention, as the victory against Arsenal was then backed up by a swashbuckling performance against Wrexham, with a 5-1 win to begin Southampton's April exploits in the Championship, firming up a playoff spot.

Everyone is currently playing out of their skin under Eckert, with Southampton's collective strengths at the forefront of their jaw-dropping win on the road at Phil Parkinson's Red Dragons.

Southampton's team spirit shines at Wrexham

Eckert has turned a side who looked down on their luck and beaten under Will Still, into an unstoppable unit.

Everyone knows their clearly assigned role within the German's meticulous set-up, with the 5-1 win also showing off the selflessness coursing through the camp, at the moment.

Five different goalscorers got in on the action for the rampant away side, with Kuryu Matsuki setting the tone with the opener, on what was just his eighth league start of the season.

Flynn Downes, Cyle Larin, Ross Stewart, and Finn Azaz then made sure of the emphatic three points in Wales, with the lethal Scotsman utilised as an impact substitute by Eckert yet again, for his sixth Championship strike of the campaign, from only eight starts.

The Scotsman won't be throwing any strops about his minimal first-team minutes, though, as he knows he is clearly valued by the popular regime to keep delivering the goods when thrown into contests.

Amazingly, though, the flawless Saints lineup that took to the field at the Racehouse Ground over Easter could be tinkered with slightly, as Derby County come to St. Mary's on the weekend, with the attack potentially even more terrifying with this last-minute addition coming in.

Eckert's last-minute change

For as much as Southampton wiped the floor with their Welsh opponents, Samuel Edozie wasn't at his sharpest.

The ex-Manchester City starlet never got going, while the rest of his teammates wreaked havoc, with possession squandered a disorderly 14 times by the quiet number 23, before he was taken off on the 58th minute mark.

From that point on, Southampton looked even more venomous in attack, and that was because Eckert had reintroduced Leo Scienza into the first-team picture, after wretched injury luck derailed his superb season.

He didn't get on the scoresheet, like fellow substitute Stewart, but he certainly kept the porous hosts on their toes with his gallops forward, with Eckert surely tempted to start him against the Rams, to immediately unnerve John Eustace's men.

Across the entire season to date, before being plagued with some untimely knocks, the slick Brazilian had managed to collect a devastating six goals and eight assists from 31 second-tier clashes, meaning he should be able to slot straight back in against Derby and cause all sorts of bother.

Now being tipped to move to the Premier League, even if Southampton doesn't clinch promotion, it's clear that the tricky number 13 is one of the Saints' most daring performers on his day.

If Southampton are as clinical in front of goal as they were against Wrexham, facing off against Derby, with Scienza also added back into the first-team mix, there could be another whitewash result on the cards.

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