Southampton of England youngster, Nathan Tella appears to be n a strong position to play a key role for his club in The Saints’ Boxing Day clash against Fulham, who have Super Eagles’ right-back, Ola Aina as well as the Nigerian-born duo of Tosin Adarabioyo and Ademola Lookman in their squad.
Megasportsarena.com gathered that it promises to be a fiesta clash between both midstream English Premier League sides, but Tella has got the nod from his coach, coach Ralph Hasenhuttl, who hinted that the fast-rising Nigerian-born attacker is in contention to make his fifth EPL appearance of the season.
Heading into the Boxing Day clash with Fulham, Southampton are facing an injury crisis, with the trio of Danny Ings, Jannik Vestergaard and Nathan Redmond doubtful for the trip to battle Adarabioyo, Aina and Lookman at Craven Cottage in London, while Oriol Romeu is suspended.
Consequently, Tella has emerged as a potentially viable candidate to replace the injured Ings, in much the same way he did during last weekend’s clash with Manchester City, which his side lost 1-0, but he gave account of himself when he entered the game late on.
With another crucial fixture now looming large, attention is once again on Tella, as Hasenhuttl stated categorically that he will give young players in his squad more game time and the Nigerian-born winger is already ahead of the pack of youth team players from Saint Mary’s.
Hasenhuttl told HampshireLive: “We have now the chance to give them time to play and if it is like this, then they must show that they are good enough for the Premier League and they have learned quick enough.
“This is the moment where they are waiting for for a long time and I think this is the chance then to get this opportunity and then you must be there, and this is what we expect from them.”
