Taylor Harwood - Bellis missed the end of last season and he has missed the start of this one, however he is set to play some part in the Carabao Cup tie at Northampton, but how long will he remain a Southampton player.

The Daily Echo has quoted Will Still as saying that Taylor Harwood- Bellis will play some part in the cup tie at Northampton on Tuesday evening.

Speaking to the media outlet Still had this to say.

"I don't know if Tay will start but he will probably be involved and have his first run out of what's been a tricky time for him

"That's good, touch wood. Charlie Taylor will also be involved, which is good. I love Chaz, he's a really good guy. The best team will play and we'll try to win.

"I'm fully focused on Northampton now and it's just a game that we want to win and we want to field the best team that we can field.

"Some of the players that played against Wrexham will play again because we need to get used to that fitness side of things, and I just want to win.

"We'll take care of players that are struggling or got little niggles, but I don't really care who we're playing, we just need to try and win games of football.

"There is no cup team or league team. We're just a group of players and whoever is on the pitch needs to put a shift in.

"Everyone knows where we're going and how we're going to do things, so whoever plays on Tuesday will be the best team at that moment in time."

That is good news, not just about THB, but also that Charlie Taylor is ready to play again, as the euphoria of the late win against Wrexham subsided, the reality is that defensively on Saturday we were very lax, there was no organisation or leadership, our marking was appalling and to be blunt if Wrexham had taken the chances given to them on a plate they could have been 4-0 by the 88th minute and we would have been dead and buried.

Will Still watched the same game as us on Saturday and he will surely be concerned about this, do leave a player unmarked and a free run on goal once is rare in game, to do it at least 4 times is shocking and it needs to be sorted.

But if either Harwood-Bellis or Taylor is the answer, the question over the former is whether he will still be at the club in a few weeks time ?

He is one of 5 players who could likely leave, the other 3 being Tyler Dibling, Matteus Fernandes, Joe Aribo & Sam Edozie.

It is highly unlikely that we will keep all 5, but the problem for Still is until they go he cannot plan properly to sign someone to replace them.

With his injury there has not been as much speculation about Harwood- Bellis's future as you would have otherwise suspected, there were links with his former loan club Burnley, they have not yet signed a central defender, so the question is whether they will return with an offer.

The problem for Burnley will be the fee, Saints are said to have a release clause on THB of £25 million and his wages will also be an issue for Burnley, the Lancashire club have spent big this summer, not just in transfer fees where they have spent £30 million on Armando Broja & around £25 million on Leslie Ugochukwu, that is £45 million on the two ex Saints loanees alone, when you add the 11 other new signings up that takes the total of their spending up to well over £100 million, Kyle Walker was a free transfer but his wages will put a big chunk in their budget.

They have put around £30 million back in the coffers with the sale of James Trafford to Manchester City and a few minor departures, but you have to ask whether they now have another £25 million and indeed a sizable chunk of wages to bring in Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

So it will be good to see Taylor Harwood-Bellis back in a Saints shirt, but the nagging feeling is it could be one of the last times we will see him in our colours.

All Photos Via Reuters

StAnt added 09:54 - Aug 11 What a load of rubbish to say Wrexham could have been 4-0 up - you conveniently overlook all our chances plus the two stonewall penalties. They could have scored more goals, so could we but let's not exaggerate. The stats show we had more chances than Wrexham and I only recall Baz making a single save.
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Bowlercow added 12:06 - Aug 11 Nick I refer you to the interview THB did with Sky about 2 months ago Listen to that and you will believe he is staying In order to stop breakaway goals our defence needs pace Nither Taylor or Stephens has pace He needs THB and Quashie either side of Cat Jack who is good at last ditch tackles If we can get a good half time lead the give the fringe players a run out
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SWH1748 added 12:27 - Aug 11 Hmm when I went to school M£30b and M£25 added up to M£55 not M£45
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Block8 added 12:41 - Aug 11 Strangely losing THB is not that big a loss, in this division particularly. The problem on Saturday was such a high press, Quarshie has real pace but it was Jack that recovered the balls over the top. Also I was quite impressed with Fraser ( who I previously said I wouldn't have signed) especially when he moved to right wing back. And with Grealish going to Everton we might hang on to Tyler 🤞

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Jesus_02 added 12:44 - Aug 11 We have release clause of 25m on THB , what aweful business we bought him for 20m. 5m wouldnt even cover his wages for two years.
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davidpeach added 14:56 - Aug 11 Could be off to Bournemouth? They’re looking for two central defenders?
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