Southampton head coach Ivan Juric has suggested that new signing Albert Gronbaek can provide competition for Mateus Fernandes ahead of their huge match away to Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Danish international Gronbaek arrived on loan from French side Rennes over a week ago and is yet to feature for Saints, but Juric stressed that he has a role to play.
“I think the best position for him is the position of Mateus Fernandes,” said Juric.
“He can even play as a forward or even at the back, as he has played sometimes for the national team, but I think where he’s expressing himself the best is the position of Mateus.
“Of course it’s a different standard, but he played in the national team and he played some good games. Sometimes players are like [Kamaldeen] Sulemana.
“They go to one place and cannot express themselves, and then maybe something changes, and they are good. I think he’s a good player, and he will do great here.”
Gronbaek is expected to make his first appearance at Portman Road, while Ipswich head coach Kieran McKenna is hoping for a more competitive performance than in their 4-1 defeat at Liverpool last time out.
“It has been a tough two-game block, and it’s come at a tricky stage of the season for us,” he said. “But if we take the lessons in the right way, we will be stronger for it, and it’ll help us in the games coming up.
“Look, it’s a difficult game on top of a difficult game. We’ve made some mistakes that we can learn from. There are reasons for that as well, but I feel like it’s one that, if we take the lessons in the right way and work hard on them, we can be stronger for.”
During that game, forward Wes Burns was stretchered off with what looked like a knee injury. It is, according to McKenna, potentially a serious one for Burns.
“Not good,” he said when asked about the Welshman. “It wasn’t an impact, it was a movement. We’ve got our fingers crossed, but the knee’s very swollen, and he’s on crutches. He’ll be going for a scan. We hope that it’s not as bad as it looks, but it does look like a serious one.”
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