Taylor Harwood-Bellis, a Southampton defender, has been a vital player for Russell Martin this season, and journalist Dean Jones has responded to the fresh injury news while speaking to GIVEMESPORT.
Despite his great start to life on the south coast, Jones has adamant that the Saints will not rush him back.
Harwood-Bellis signed for the Saints on loan from Premier League champions Manchester City during the summer transfer window, per The Athletic. Despite only being at the club on a temporary deal, if Martin’s side are promoted back to England’s top flight, they will be obligated to pay £20m to Man City and sign the centre-back on a permanent transfer.
The Saints fended off competition from Premier League clubs to secure his signature, with the Evening Standard reporting that West Ham United and Fulham were both keen on signing him only a few months ago. It’s no surprise that Martin and his recruitment team were so keen to bring him to St Mary’s after he played a crucial role in Burnley’s Championship title win last season.
Harwood-Bellis played in a Burnley side managed by Vincent Kompany who focused heavily on possession football and playing out from the back, similar to Martin. In terms of finding a player comfortable with the ball at his feet with experience of gaining promotion to the Premier League, Southampton couldn’t have found a better suited defender to bring to the club.
The Saints have struggled to adapt to Martin’s system as a whole so far as they currently sit in 10th position in the table. The south coast club have dominated possession as expected, but in terms of results, they may need more time on the training ground.
Southampton suffered a major blow during the international break, confirming last week that Harwood-Bellis would return to the club early after suffering an injury. The statement reveals that he will be assessed at the club’s training ground and further updates will be provided in due course.
Dean Jones update at St Mary’s Stadium
The Saints are yet to release a second update on the severity of Harwood-Bellis’ injury, so it will be interesting to see whether he returns to training ahead of their clash with Hull City on the weekend. Martin does have plenty of options in reserve, with Mason Holgate and Shea Charles ready to snatch his shirt, but Harwood-Bellis has been building a partnership alongside Jan Bednarek over the last few weeks.
Jones has suggested that Bednarek and Harwood-Bellis’ partnership was starting to show real promise, with a real mix of experience and youth. The journalist adds that it’s going to be a major blow if the England youth international is out for an extended period of time. Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said…
“Yeah it would be [a blow]. He’s played a significant role this season and obviously, of all of the things that have gone wrong for Southampton, at least they had the makings of a partnership that was showing real promise. You’ve got both ends of the equation there in terms of youth, experience, and hope, and then you’ve also got someone of such experience in Bednarek, so it’s a real blow for Southampton if he’s going to be out for a while. Obviously, they are getting back in and need to check him out thoroughly, and they won’t take any risks on him. But from a Southampton perspective, they really will hope they can get him back in that team as soon as possible.”
Who will start for Russell Martin at the weekend?
After a disappointing draw at home to Rotherham before the international break, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Martin make a few changes to his starting XI.
Gavin Bazunu is likely to start between the sticks with Kyle Walker-Peters and Ryan Manning as Martin’s full-backs. The central pairing is up for debate if Harwood-Bellis is out injured, with Holgate and Charles likely to battle it out to partner Bednarek in defence. Martin opted for a front three of Adam Armstrong, Che Adams, and Kamaldeen Sulemana against Rotherham, but none of the trio could find the back of the net.
The Saints had Carlos Alcaraz, Samuel Edozie, Joe Aribo, Ryan Fraser, and Sekou Mara on the bench, so they might be vying for a start ahead of the Championship’s return this weekend.
