The forgotten Southampton talent who could suddenly become very important

When Keven Schlotterbeck went down with an injury during the 1-0 Preston North End defeat on Saturday, a fair share of Southampton fans would have had their heads in their hands.

Cyle Larin has been out of the team for a bit of time now, as has Caspar Jander, so the last thing that was needed was another frustrating knock, as Schlotterbeck had to hobble off on the 11th minute mark with a painful dislocated shoulder problem.

The German powerhouse has arguably been one of the Southampton's player of the season shouts, since leaving Augsburg behind in the summer, with two goals next to his name, alongside several strong defensive performances making the loss of Taylor Harwood-Bellis to Aston Villa more palatable.

He will be out for several weeks, you imagine, which means Zach Abbott, who had become a forgotten figure on the South Coast, could suddenly become very important as Schlotterbeck's temporary stand-in...

Abbott had to come on in Schlotterbeck's place at Deepdale, which was a rare outing for the Nottingham Forest loanee, since swapping the City Ground for the Saints temporarily.

Indeed, this was only his second taste of Championship action for Tonda Eckert and Co, with his only other minutes coming last month against Norwich City, when he was utilised at right-back.

Other than that 45-minute runout at Carrow Road, and his swift introduction to the contest in Lancashire, Abbott has been rooted to the substitutes bench, with many left to scratch their head as to why he was picked up in the first place.

Clearly, the 20-year-old has pedigree, as he played seven times in the Europa League last season for Forest.

Moreover, he was noted last year, by chief football officer for the Tricky Trees, Ross Wilson, for handling to the transition to the first-team "impressively."

With Schlotterbeck set for a stay in the treatment room, he could suddenly be in the first-team plans of Eckert a lot more often, too, and he should be able to slot in well, considering his composed performance at Deepdale.

Eckert is also likely to want to play Abbott over Nathan Wood, with the German clarifying post-match after the 1-0 loss to Graham Alexander's lowly hosts, that the decision to leave the ex-Swansea City centre-back out of the squad altogether for the trip to Lancashire was due to internal conversations taking place.

Clearly, Wood isn't in the good books, due to matters that will stay private, so now Abbott has a chance to kick on, after initially being frozen out.

The wide-eyed number six couldn't do much about Jordan Thompson thumping home the winner for the bottom-of-table side, but he did leave the pitch come the end of the dismal defeat with some pride still intact.

Abbott would win all of his duels to show he could be a competent fill-in for Schlotterbeck, who is known for being a colossus in the air.

Additionally, the two-time England U20 international would walk off with a 90% pass accuracy average next to his name, meaning he should be able to fit into what Eckert wants from his defenders, which is to build up from the back.

The Berlin-born manager was a fan of what he saw against Preston, despite the final scoreline, with Eckert labelling Abbott's individual showing as "very positive."

Abbott did look shaky during that 45 minute runout in Norfolk last month, but that was when he was thrown in as a makeshift full-back.

Clearly, he much prefers a space in the heart of the defence, with 94 of the 138 career appearances he has made to date, which have predominantly come in the Forest U21s, seeing him line up as a centre-back.

He will likely look to the very experienced Jack Stephens for guidance as a prolonged period in the first team finally comes his way, as Schlotterbeck recovers from his nasty dislocated shoulder issue.