Southampton boss Claude Puel will bide his time with Sofiane Boufal
Southampton boss Claude Puel will resist any temptation to throw record signing Sofiane Boufal into the starting line-up before he is ready.
The 23-year-old midfielder joined the club from Lille in August but has so far made only two substitute appearances as he works his way back from a knee problem.
Boufal made his debut in last week's Europa League defeat by Inter Milan and then came on for the final 20 minutes of Saints' 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
But fans hoping the Moroccan might be fit enough for a first start in Wednesday's EFL Cup fourth-round clash with Sunderland look set to be disappointed.
Puel said: "We will see. Obviously there is recovery with his knee. It was difficult just 20 minutes for him.
"It's important to stay patient with him, to see him come back step by step. He will be an important player for the squad. It's important to keep him with a good physical level and without injury."
Puel would no doubt love to be able to bring in fresh legs as Southampton's busy fixture list continues.
The demands of the Europa League on clubs are well documented and trying to maintain interest in the domestic cups as well appears a big ask.
But Puel insisted he would not be taking Wednesday's game lightly as Southampton prepare to face the Premier League's bottom club.
The Frenchman said: "I will want of course to take this game with serious quality and with all possibilities to win this game and to continue in this competition.
"We play at the moment four competitions and I think it's important to continue this work.
"Of course it's important to consider the possibilities of my players. We have many injuries. It's difficult now to start with a different team. Young players can play also. We will see.
"It's a difficult game because Sunderland will be freer in their minds to prepare for this game without pressure. It's important for us to continue this work, to play at home and to have the good result."
David Moyes is hoping an extended EFL Cup run can revive Sunderland's Premier League fortunes just as it did three seasons ago.
Then head coach Gus Poyet guided the Black Cats to the League Cup final in March 2014 and although they lost 3-1 to Manchester City at Wembley, they finished the campaign with a momentum which brought them four league wins in the last five games and saw them finish in 14th place, five points clear of the drop zone.
Current boss Moyes takes his beleaguered side to Southampton on Wednesday evening having collected just two of the first 27 points on offer and sitting at the foot of the table.
But asked if the club's continued presence in the competition this time around could belatedly kick-start their season, he said: "Yes, I think it can.
"Look, I genuinely want to go and get through. It's a tough game, a tough draw for us to go away to Southampton. I think if we were at home we would be saying 'We'll have a bit of that'.
"But going to Southampton, the form they are in at the moment... I don't know what they'll do, but they have had a really busy schedule with being in Milan, being at Manchester City.
"They have got a good squad, they have got good players, but my feeling is they will probably change their team as well."
A small squad remains depleted by injury with full-back Patrick van Aanholt and midfielder Jack Rodwell potentially adding to the casualty list as they nurse adductor and calf problems respectively.
Source: PAR
