Aaron Ramsdale’s high stakes experience makes him derby ready for Southampton

Southampton have some injury concerns to keep tabs on ahead of the South Coast Derby against Portsmouth in one week's time.

Indeed, Cyle Larin didn't feature for Canada during their last international break matchup with Peru due to a slight back injury.

He would be an almighty loss to stomach for a match of Pompey's billing, with Larin bagging seven goals already this season in the Championship. Hopefully, he should be able to feature, still, with the Daily Echo's Alfie House noting that the Brampton Bagsman's knock is "nothing major."

The Canadian goal machine isn't the only Saints player, while out on international injury, that has picked up an untimely strain, with Daniel Peretz also touch and go for the feisty showdown to come at St. Mary's.

Peretz's injury

Peretz has now withdrawn from the Israel national team after picking up an unwanted injury.

The 26-year-old has a tight glute, according to reports, and has returned to the South Coast so he can be monitored and further testing can be done.

This will be a blow to have Peretz potentially unavailable for the clash against John Mousinho's visitors, as the one-time Bayern Munich goalkeeper has been Tonda Eckert's regular number one, ever since he stepped foot into the St. Mary's dugout.

Keeping an impressive ten clean sheets across 38 games under Eckert, too, not having Peretz around could unnerve the Saints backline for such a tense and nervy match.

In a way, though, throwing Aaron Ramsdale into the deep-end as the injured stopper's replacement could be a great opportunity for the ex-Arsenal keeper to shine, as he has thrived in nail-biting situations before.

Aaron Ramsdale's time to shine?

The Daily Mail reported back in September that, if Peretz were to go down with an injury that kept him out of the first team fold, that Ramsdale would likely be parachuted into Eckert's starting XI as a back-up option.

We could soon see whether the Mail's speculative comments were correct or not, with the German left with a big call to make if the 26-year-old isn't fit enough for the lunchtime clash with Pompey.

If he decides to bring in Ramsdale from the cold, who hasn't featured for the Saints in a league match since 2025, it might well be an inspired move, as the number 32 has been thrust into a lot of high-stakes matches throughout his up-and-down career, and often, succeeded.

While his minutes have dried up at St. Mary's in recent times, he helped Arsenal - once upon a time - to a Community Shield final success, with a 4-1 penalty shootout win in favour of the Gunners in 2023 showing off Ramsdale's agile reflexes on the biggest stage of them all at Wembley.

Ramsdale's big game experience:

Moreover, while on the books of Mikel Arteta's giants, he also regularly kept his cool in the North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur, which should stand him in good stead for the South Coast equivalent, with his final start donning Arsenal colours against Spurs seeing him collect a 2-0 win.

To add more context, Ramsdale had to make seven big saves to preserve his clean sheet on that day, with the reserve keeper desperate for another shutout to come his way, if he is included in the starting XI against Pompey due to Peretz's injury issues.

Noted as having a "big personality" by Arteta, which means he doesn't fear these nerve-wracking matches, the proof will soon be in the pudding if he is handed a rare first team opportunity against Mousinho's away side, with Peretz's absence potentially not the end of the world crisis some dreaded.

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