Luke Shaw's withdrawal from the England U21 squad might be a blow to the country but can only help Saints cause in the Premier League.

Luke Shaw has pulled out of the forthcoming England U21 games due to an injury picked up during the Liverpool game at the weekend, however this could be of benefit to Saints as Shaw now has a full fortnight of rest and recuperation to ensure that he is fully fit for the visit of Chelsea a week on Saturday.

The problem is here that many forget just how young haw actually is, although he will obviously have the fitness that comes naturally with youth, its generally accepted that it takes at least 3-4 years of full time training at professional level before a player will have attained that core fitness needed to not only play week in week out but be able to train at a high intensity without picking up too many injuries.

This core fitness is crucial in a sport where stamina and the ability to perform at a high tempo for 90 minutes is paramount, its the reason that you dont see many teenage marathon runners at a high level, in that discipline core strength is a must and a top quality marathon runner will often be approaching 30 before he truly gets into his prime, in the reverse its why teenage footballers have to be nurtured, in an ideal world Luke Shaw would not play every game, but be rested therefore giving him the recovery time that he needs at this age, to play him week in week out is a recipe for injury problems and what is sometimes picked up now can often dog a player for years to come making the suceptible to hamstring injuries for instance.

So Luke Shaw missing out for England this time is a boost to Saints survival chances over the coming weeks, the extend of Shaw's injury hasnt been revealed, but I dont expect it to be too serious, but Saints arent taking any chances here in risking Shaw in what are only two friendlies as a warm up for the summers U21 tournament, Luke Shaw will get another chance for the England U21's and probably the full England side, but for the moment Saints need to concentrate on this season and ensuring they stay up.   

Photo: Action Images

SonicBoom added 10:35 - Mar 20 Longer term we could do with a good quality defender around 30-32 who is happy to play second fiddle to Shaw and bring him along. That way we could rest him ocassionally. Right now we don't have that luxury.
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SaintNick added 11:21 - Mar 20 we need someone who can play on the left midfield but also full back, Buttner would have been ideal for that, heard rumours that he is unhappy at United due to a lack of game time, maybe we could get him in the summer
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 12:17 - Mar 20 Would we even want Buttner now? He's looked shocking defensively for United. Even worse than Fox if that's possible. If they keep playing Shaw every week then they run the risk of him turning out like Michael Owen where injuries ruin your career from playing too many games at a young age. Shaw's already had a few niggling injuries this season so they need to be very careful about his game time. Withdrawing him from the U21's is a good call. Its not ideal but Yoshida can play there if they don't want to risk Fox. They are completely contrasting players where Yoshida is decent defensively but useless at trying to pick a pass or cross the ball, whilst Fox's delivery is excellent but is a defensive liability. Maybe though we don't need to sign anyone if Matt Targett is as good as the hype. He might be able to deputise for Shaw.

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simmo400 added 13:02 - Mar 20 Players at any age should be able to play once a week in the prem. core fitness is a joke.
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SaintNick added 13:45 - Mar 20 Reedy your being harsh on Buttner he has only played in two leaue games for United, he scored in one of them and both were clean sheets, I understand he is used as more of a wing back than full back by them, the other 8 games he has played have all been in the FA, league & Champions league. Simmo, Core fitness is not just aboutbeing able to play a game, its about being able to complete it and still have the energy at the end of the day, Gordon Strachan always said that tired legs make players make tired decisions, one example might be at Wigan where Luke was caught daydreaming and playing their scorer on side,core fitness makes you less tired and more mentally alert at the end of games

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thedelldays added 14:44 - Mar 20 agree there Nick there is a reason why the league is not littered with 17 year old, they are generally not strong enough to compete...even if they have the talent the break here has come at a nice time with any niggles luke may have. two weeks without a game ready for the final 7 weeks of the season. just hope he does back up his words and sign a contract
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Scummer added 14:51 - Mar 20 Interesting post on a Spurs blog http://www.cartilagefreecaptain.com/2013/3/20/4124774/premier-league-week-30-pro Shows table ranking based on performance statistics, and then extrapolates that out to predicted position and points total by the end of the season. I'm not sure if the logic is sound, but it makes for a good read (unless you are a Reading fan) and it is a little more impressive than the alternative tables from MOTD.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 15:50 - Mar 20 That table is well interesting. It’s been obvious all season that Saints haven’t been getting the points their performances deserve and that table shows where we should be. Also shows us with a 4% chance of relegation which is nice. We really should be pushing on for mid-table now. Next season should be great! From what I've seen of Buttner he's better off playing on the wing than at full back so I don't think we need him.

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SaintNick added 16:06 - Mar 20 I still think we need a winger on the left that can defend, personally I think that there is only room for one of Lallana and ramirez when we are away from home or playing a tougher team
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 16:18 - Mar 20 Yeah I thought the same about Lalla and Ram before the Liverpool game but our attacking approach helped us dominate the game. If one of the two need to be dropped then it should be Ramirez for S Davis, and hope that Lallana's tracking back improves with experience.
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SaintJez added 16:22 - Mar 20 Are we confident that Shaw has been withdrawn to rest him and not because he is genuinely injured? I hope the former as he's going to be important for the next 8 games!!
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SaintNick added 16:42 - Mar 20 Call me a sceptic, but Shaw is the latest in a long list of players who withdraw from international duty due to an injury picked up in his last game, despite the fact that the said players icluding Shaw himself complete the full 90 minutes and show no signs of injury during the game. Of course there will be strains etc that dont neccessarily get noticed during a game, but unless Shaw picked it up in the final six minutes after we had made our 3rd sub, he would have been taken off if injured im sure

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Scummer added 18:55 - Mar 20 Nick, you old cynic! Surely us saintly Saints wouldn't pull a tawdry stunt like that? ;O)
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simmo400 added 20:11 - Mar 20 Core fitness is just the new name for playing poorly then. Bad game or bad mistake is down to core fitness. Heard it all now.
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trotsky added 15:07 - Mar 21 The idea that Lallana doesn't pull his weight defensively is one of the most enduring and frustrating myths around. The guy has bags of energy (maybe fractionally diminished by the recent injury) and I can recall many occasions that he's chased back furiously after our attacks have broken down, and filled in for the full-back if they've gone marauding. One of the curious elements of Saturday's game was that when Guly came on, he actually seemed to be playing behind Shaw for much of his brief spell, i.e. at left-back. It looked odd - and scary - at the time. Maybe this had something to with Shaw having a problem.

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