Southampton were humbled on Tuesday night in the EFL Cup by a very young West Ham United team.
Indeed, even with the Saints boasting the likes of Leo Scienza in their lineup, among other notable first-team presences, the South Coast side ended up collapsing to a 4-1 loss, as Nuno Espirito Santo's men made up for their slow start in the Championship with a rampaging display.
Apart from Scienza who actually scored the opener, before West Ham dramatically turned the game on its head, there was a real lack of positive performers from a Southampton perspective.
This big Tuesday night wake-up call very much proved why the St Mary's masses are clamouring for some new defensive signings, as Jack Stephens looked rusty once more.
If he can't handle a selection of U21 players from West Ham, how he is going to cope with the pressures of a promotion run-in?
Unusually, Daniel Peretz was also shaky up against the Hammers, as he dropped one of his worst displays to date on the South Coast during the 4-1 loss.
Peretz just dropped one of this worst performances
After the aforementioned Scienza scored a wonderfully taken solo effort, the expectation inside St. Mary's would've been that Southampton would cruise to a win against their much-changed Championship rivals.
Unfortunately, the West Ham comeback would commence for the hosts shortly after the Brazilian's strike, with Peretz at fault for the equaliser, as he failed to punch away a corner kick, which allowed Josh Ajala to head home into an empty net.
Ajala would smash home another effort past the Israeli stopper on the 53rd mark, after Stephens' tame clearance was hit straight at the pacey number 66, before Taty Castellanos and Jarrod Bowen would make sure of the mid-week victory with two late efforts, to add further insult to injury for Eckert's stunned side.
Safe to say, it was night to forget for Peretz in the Saints goal, as minus a couple of decent saves here and there, he was way off his usual best in the net for Eckert's men.
Unlike Stephens, who will likely be axed for the next Championship clash against Millwall, the German will probably keep his faith in the ex-Bayern Munich keeper, as it is rare for Peretz to have a clanger-filled display.
Eckert will stick by him
Indeed, Peretz - last season - stood out as one of the most reliable stoppers in the entirety of the Championship.
He has an impressive seven clean sheets next to his name in the gruelling division from only 21 outings, with three of those clean sheets falling into his lap during his first five second tier matches last campaign.
One of those clean sheets would come about during a slender 1-0 win over Norwich City, with Eckert thankful that he had Peretz in between the sticks, as he pulled off an incredible seven saves to frustrate the Canaries.
He has more than enough credit in his bank to keep being selected, therefore, even if he has looked shaky so far this season, with seven goals leaked from four encounters.
Hopefully, he's back to his dependable best when Millwall come to town, with the Lions smelling blood as the early Championship table-toppers, after their arch rival had won so convincingly on the South Coast.
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