The Southampton star who will desperate to prove himself if he starts against Watford
Just like that, all the waiting is now over.
Indeed, Southampton finally kick off the brand-new 2026/27 season in the Championship today, with a trip to Watford.
The Saints haven't actually lost on their travels to the Hornets since 2007, so fingers crossed I haven't accidentally fallen victim to the commentator's curse with that stat.
The mood in the South Coast club's camp is confident heading into this tie at Vicarage Road, irrespective of any good omens on their side or not, as Tonda Eckert's men comfortably got the better of Colchester United 2-0 in the EFL Cup last weekend.
That was just a dress rehearsal for the real nitty gritty of the second tier, with plenty of Saints players raring to go in Hertfordshire, as Eckert and Co. immediately aim to start chipping away at their Spygate-related four point deduction with a win.
The players with a point to prove vs Watford
Southampton will want to instantly hit the ground running to live up to several predictions tipping them for promotion.
The likes of Cyle Larin and Finn Azaz will be pumped up for the game at Vicarage Road, you imagine, as both players have had fitness issues this pre-season, but starred during that 2-0 win in Essex.
Larin instinctively handed the travelling Saints the lead, despite only being on the pitch for ten minutes.
If he's thrown in from the start, the Canadian will want to keep the goals flowing, as he aims to follow on from last campaign's red-hot loan spell as a now permanent member of Eckert's group.
Likewise, Azaz will want to start the regular Championship season as he means to go on, as he grabbed 11 goals and eight assists in the second tier alone last campaign.
He's already off the mark with an assist, as he teed up Romeo Akachukwu for his first-ever senior strike at his boyhood club against Colchester.
There's also Leo Scienza and Lewis Dobbin in attack hungry to hit the ground running, with Dobbin costing a whopping £9m this summer.
Alongside all these star-studded names, there is a forgotten member of the South Coast side's attack who will be desperate to put in a good performance later on today, after a flat first season.
This star will be desperate to put in a good performance
Before Dobbin was arriving through the door for mega bucks, Tom Fellows was an eye-catching attacking signing.
The 23-year-old cost Eckert's men £10m last summer, after setting the second tier alight with his boyhood employers, West Bromwich Albion.
Across two senior seasons in the Championship with the Baggies, he amassed a ridiculous 17 assists and bagged eight goals.
Karlan Grant, who played alongside the Birmingham-born winger at the Hawthorns, would note that Fellows was an "unbelievable" talent to play alongside, but he has never really fit in at St Mary's, surrounded by Azaz and Scienza, for example.
His debut season on the South Coast fell way short of what many expected, with zero goals collected across 44 Southampton appearances and counting.
He has collected eight assists, but he was notably poor against Danny Cowley's hosts last weekend, too, with only one effort registered at the U's net.
It will be interesting to see if Eckert sticks with Fellows for the clash later today, as the German is a fan of the 23-year-old.
Indeed, he stated - back in March - that the ex-West Brom attacker had an "important role" to play in the crucial promotion run-in.
He didn't spark into life on that occasion, despite those words of encouragement, but a new season could mean a new beginning for Fellows in Saints’ red and white.
Knowing what he can be capable of, he might end up assisting a vital winner at Vicarage Road, with a reinvigorated Fellows an unbelievable weapon for Eckert to possess, when you consider the other exceptional attackers at his fingertips.
