Southampton managed to collect a 3-1 win over Stoke City on Saturday despite Taylor Harwood-Bellis being absent from Tonda Eckert's starting XI.
Eckert decided not to start his star centre-back, amid ongoing interest in his services from Aston Villa, and this call could have backfired.
Indeed, on the opening day of the season, Jack Stephens - who played alongside Harwood-Bellis - had a shocking day at the office against Watford, with his performance full of errors, noticeably when his miskicked clearance allowed Iker Bravo to break the deadlock in the 2-1 defeat.
He put in a much improved perfomance against the Potters, however, to show that he can still be a reliable old-hand defender.
Stephens' much improved performance
With Harwood-Bellis dropping out of the side altogether, Eckert boldly stuck by the 32-year-old, despite his error-strewn showing at Vicarage Road.
Nathan Wood would be his defensive partner at St. Mary's, which is a combination that has very rarely linked up with each other on the South Coast.
Indeed, they have only lined up alongside each other a slim 24 times donning Southampton red and white, but it worked against Mark Robins' visitors, with ten tackles and duels won combined by the unfamiliar duo.
Stephens definitely silenced his critics with his display, as he bounced back from the grief he received against Watford, with an impressive 90% pass accuracy also averaged, away from getting stuck in.
Eckert will continue to fall back on the ageing defender, but a new defensive signing could still be in the works, even if Harwood-Bellis is to stay, to strengthen all over the pitch for a promotion push.
There is another player in Eckert's camp at the moment who will be troubling the German a lot more than his veteran centre-back, as he looked awkwardly chucked into the lineup against the Potters...
The player who is a bigger problem than Stephens
While Stephens did the simple things right against Stoke and didn't look out of place, Kuryu Matsuki looked uncomfortable slotted into the side in the middle of the park.
Normally a winger, Eckert experimented with his starting XI by slotting the former FC Tokyo man into the team as a holding midfield option, and it didn't work whatsoever.
With no Shea Charles around, and Caspar Jander out injured, the 33-year-old manager is trying his best to work out who he should be starting in the central midfield ranks, and it's clear off his Stoke display, that Matsuki is not the solution to these depleted numbers.
Losing possession 13 times and only winning four out of his nine duels, it was an unconvincing performance from the lacklustre number 27.
Daily Echo journalist Alfie House also called out Matsuki for missing a slide tackle in the build-up to Ethan Galbraith's goal for the away side.
He wasn't any better over the opening weekend versus the Hornets, either, to add to the Saints fans frustrations, even when being played in a more comfortable right-wing slot at Vicarage Road. Yet, he failed to spark into life with zero on-target shots and zero successful dribbles registered.
Like some Southampton fans have gripes with Stephens consistently starting, despite his hot-and-cold nature, Matsuki seems to be shoehorned into Eckert's starting lineups at the moment, without ever proving why.
Last season, too, he was more impactful when utilised as an impact substitute presence, with a stellar six goals coming his way from 31 Saints appearances and counting.
After his shaky display from the middle of the park against Stoke, therefore, he should be dropped, with Tom Fellows potentially kept in the side down the right wing, and Cameron Bragg pushed back into the first team fold next to Flynn Downes centrally.
Stephens stands a great chance of being retained for Southampton's next Championship test against Millwall, on the contrary, as he has bounced back from his Vicarage Road horror show.
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