Southampton beat Eintracht Braunschweig 1-0 in a pre-season friendly in Germany on Friday.
The goal came from a forward that plenty of supporters had already given up on.
Damion Downs collected a pass from Lewis Dobbin, then rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home. It was his brightest moment in a Southampton shirt after a bruising first year.
The 22-year-old failed to register in his debut season on the south coast. A January loan to Hamburger SV brought no goals either.
So when his name comes up as an answer to the club's striker shortage, plenty of fans remain unimpressed.
What the fans make of him
The doubt is not hard to find. A piece on one Southampton fan site accepted that some supporters would "spit" at the idea of Downs standing in for Ross Stewart.
That feeling has been building for a while, and fans have spent the summer calling for a proven goalscorer, either a Stewart return or a brand new signing.
Beneath a separate thread, one supporter argued that if Cameron Archer leaves, the club will still need another quick forward up top.
Read together, the message is clear enough. Most want a striker signed, and few are counting on Downs to be the man.
Why he is worth backing
There is a case that the doubters have moved too fast. Coverage of the win in Germany noted that a player once dismissed as a flop had taken his goal with unexpected composure.
That same report framed the night as another sign of a forward rebuilding his confidence. He now stands a decent chance of featuring against Watford on the opening day.
Downs did not arrive as a makeweight, since Southampton paid around £7 million for him last summer.
The demands placed on him were big from the start, heavy for a young striker still new to English football.
His FotMob profile shows a first season without a league goal, though that looks more like a slow start than a final answer.
Johannes Spors paid £7 million for a reason. At 22, Downs has the height and the pace to unsettle Championship defenders, even as a second option behind Cyle Larin.
Southampton may well still buy a striker, and sensible cover would do no harm with a four-point deduction to overturn. However, backing the forward already at the club reads as a wiser call than writing him off.
One pre-season goal proves little on its own. Yet writing him off before a competitive ball is kicked looks harsh.
He has earned the chance to build on Friday rather than being given a shove out of the picture.
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