Tonda Eckert won't be able to call upon Cameron Bragg for Southampton's Championship trip to Norwich City on Wednesday night.
Indeed, the wide-eyed number 26 was sent off during the South Coast Derby for two quickfire yellow cards, so will have to watch on as a suspended member of Eckert's camp.
It's not the end of the world that Bragg will be out of action, as Caspar Jander has finally returned from injury, alongside the fact Flynn Downes and James Ward-Prowse are also at his disposal, as a dependable midfield pairing.
There is one change Eckert might well be contemplating, though, if he reverts back to his favoured 4-2-3-1 set-up, with Downes and Ward-Prowse utilised as midfield anchors, as this exciting forward option could come back into his starting XI.
The non-Bragg change Eckert should be considering
Kuryu Matsuki would have been disappointed that he was only used off the bench against Pompey on Sunday.
The Japanese attacker had a dream international break, as he scored his first ever senior goal for his country, and he also fired home a delightful goal for Eckert's men in league action against Bristol City, before the break intervened.
He would replace Leo Scienza during the heated South Coast Derby to add more energy and bite to the Saints' overall game, with that one man disadvantage hurting them, and he would put in an admirable shift, with the number 27 lively throughout.
He could well be rewarded with a start at Carrow Road down the right flank, therefore, with Matsuki likely to get the nod over a hot-and-cold Tom Fellows, just for his brilliantly taken goal against the Robins last month still being in his favour.
Alongside that, he also scored away at the Canaries last campaign, as he looks to make it two Championship goals from four contests, if he's selected to start mid-week.
He scored vs Norwich last season
The South Coast outfit would actually lose the league showdown at Carrow Road last season 2-1 during the very early days of the Eckert regime.
Matsuki wasn't even among the substitutes for this narrow loss in Norfolk, but he did manage to score during the Saints' emphatic 3-0 win over Norwich, at the exact same ground, in August last year, when the two Championship clubs met in the EFL Cup.
He would smash home this fierce effort to make it 3-0 on the night, with the lineup selected by Will Still for this mid-week matchup crazy to look back on.
🚨 GOAL! Kuryu Matsuki adds a stunning third for Southampton at Norwich #saintsfc pic.twitter.com/rbxbTSbLmW
— SaintsExtra (@SaintsExtra) August 26, 2025
Indeed, the other goalscorers in Ryan Fraser and Cameron Archer are no longer attached to the Saints, with Fraser long gone, and Archer out on loan at Auxerre, under the Belgian funnily enough.
The ex-FC Tokyo attacker would hop off the bench in this one next to the likes of Damion Downs and Ben Brereton Diaz, who have also both been loaned out, while the new Japan international continues to make inroads into the main first team fold.
Matsuki has managed to stand the test of time, and he's only becoming stronger in Southampton red and white, with Eckert predicting more and more goals to come his way this season.
The entertaining number 27 could well be handed his seventh Championship start of the campaign on Wednesday night, as the German tries to freshen up his ranks to ensure a rare away win finally comes home.
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