Virgil Van Dijk had been expectd to continue his comeback with another appearance for Saints U23 side but his name was not on the team sheet for the trip to play West Bromwich Albion.

After getting in 90 minutes in the U23's a week ago but not featuring this Saturday for the first team due to tactial reasons, most Saints supporters would have expected the Dutch defender to play some part in the game at West Browmwich Albion in the U23 league, but he was no where to be seen.
A Sam McQueen penalty gave a youtful looking Saints side a 1-0 win without Van Dijk but the question is why did he not play.

There could be several explanations, the first that Pellegrino is intenting to start him at Stoke City on Saturday, that being the case after such a long lay off two games in the space of five days might not be a good idea, his fitness levels will be raised but you don't want to overstretch him.

The second is that with such a youthful side being put out there would be no point in sending him up there, in terms of match sharpness it would not help him too much.

The fact that so few experienced players on the fringe of the first team squad travellled might also give a clue, you might have expected the likes of Jermey Pied, Pierre Emile Hojbjerg or Jan Bednarek to have been given a run out as they did not play at the weekend but they were absent as well, this perhaps suggests that Saints may be having a full game behind closed doors this week, probably in house to further hone Van Dijk's sharpness but without the risk of an opponent injuring him with a rash tackle.

Mauricio Pellegrino has to make a tough decision in the coming weeks, Maya Yoshida has given 100% and not let the team down, but he is nowhere near as good as Van Dijk, if we are to win games then the manager will want to play his best team, but that will be harsh on the lieks of Yoshida.

Photo: Action Images

SalisburySaint added 10:29 - Sep 26 Jan Bednarek played
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legod7 added 11:37 - Sep 26 Jan Bednarek didn't play.
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patred added 12:11 - Sep 26 I would have expected Boufal and Pierre Holjberg (sp) to have got some minutes under their belts maybe Stepens aswell.
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SonicBoom added 14:34 - Sep 26 Seriously if VVD is not fit by now he's never going to be.
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wibbersda added 17:18 - Sep 26 Am I going mad or did I not watch the U23 beat Stoke last night 3-0 and Van Dijk scoring 1 and getting a penalty???
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legod7 added 20:00 - Sep 26 Saints beat Stoke 3-0 last Monday (18th) at home. They beat WBA 1-0 last night (25th ) away.
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SaintBrock added 18:57 - Sep 27 Some fella over on the 'other' site claims he knows that vD will play on Saturday, claims to be an insider. I thought the team was picked on a Friday before a match but it would make far more sense to pick your starting XI on Monday and work them together for the rest of the week. As for wibbersda we'll get you an NHS appointment as soon as possible unless you're going private!

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