Eckert says ‘we need to win’ at Preston: what that means for Southampton’s XI

Tonda Eckert was happy to call the post-break block of games a good one after the draw at the Hawthorns. Then he attached a condition to it. Southampton have to win at Preston first, as Saints Marching reported.

Cyle Larin went off in the first half against Bolton and has not played since, which Sports Mole’s preview puts down to a hamstring problem. Southampton scored three at West Ham and four against QPR without him, so the mood at Staplewood is calm.

Lewis Dobbin is the easy name to write down.

Preston had him on loan last season, which means Deepdale holds no surprises for him, and Eckert has used him up front twice since Larin limped off.

Divin Mubama had the shirt at West Brom instead. Saints Marching counted no shots from him in 71 minutes, and Eckert took the blame himself for a first half in which Southampton were penned back, with two days and hardly any training to prepare.

Which of the two suits Preston? Graham Alexander’s side concede more than two goals a game, so the useful forward runs at centre-backs. Vital Football credits Dobbin with pace and directness from his time at Deepdale. That is the better fit.

Behind him the picture is clearer. Eckert is confident Léo Scienza will be fit for the left side, Kuryu Matsuki looked sharp on the right in midweek, and Finn Azaz works the gaps between them.

Caspar Jander is the one unknown. A muscular problem has kept him out of the last two games and he will be assessed before anyone decides. Unless that goes well, expect Flynn Downes and James Ward-Prowse to hold the middle again.

Leo Leroy is suspended after his fifth yellow card of the season. Johnny Kenny lasted 12 minutes against Sheffield United before his hamstring gave out.

Alexander replaced Paul Heckingbottom at the end of September and is still waiting for his first league win. Tuesday’s defeat was Preston’s eleventh of the season, after Sydie Peck scored a hat-trick in 19 minutes.

Southampton have a reason of their own to remember this fixture. Preston won 2-0 at St Mary’s last November, the defeat that cost Will Still his job and handed Eckert a side sitting 21st.

Eckert is demanding the win to keep the Saints in touch with the sides chasing automatic promotion. Saints are close enough to the top two to feel every dropped point, and, after Samuel Edozie's first goal of the season, there are 15 different goalscorers to share the load.

Likeliest XI: Daniel Peretz behind a back four of James Bree, Jack Stephens, Keven Schlotterbeck and Ryan Manning, then Downes and Ward-Prowse, then Matsuki, Azaz and Scienza behind Dobbin. Mubama and Sam Edozie wait as the first changes.

Larin will come back. Until then, the question is which forward Preston’s centre-backs fear, and Dobbin is the answer.