Southampton V West Brom at St. Mary's Stadium: LIVE

16 January 2016 09:30
Southampton V West Brom - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman backs Fraser Forster's Euro 2016 prospects

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman hopes goalkeeper Fraser Forster can get back to his best in time for Euro 2016.

The 27-year-old England goalkeeper returned to the starting line-up for Saints in their 2-0 win over Watford in the Premier League on Wednesday after being out with a serious knee injury since last March.

Asked if Forster could now force his way back into Roy Hodgson's plans for the tournament in France in the summer, Koeman said: "I hope so. He was part of the national team and he was out for a long time.

"He will get the chances if he plays at this level and I think it is not too difficult for him. He is back and he played his first 90 minutes for the first team, the clean sheet is important for goalkeepers, important for the defenders. That makes him mentally stronger than he already was, so it was a good match for Fraser."

Southampton have scored six and conceded none in their last two home games in the Premier League, but Koeman knows they will have a tough time against West Brom.

He said: "In the last two home games we have created a lot of chances, four goals against Arsenal is a big result, last Wednesday (against Watford) the team performance was very good.

"We need that level against West Brom, it's a difficult game for us.

"In the last three matches (against the Baggies) we haven't scored any goals against them and because they are strong and very well organised it is tough to beat and tough to score goals."

Victor Wanyama is back in contention for Southampton.

The 24-year-old midfielder is available again after suspension following his red card against Norwich but Koeman was not giving anything away as to whether he will start.

The Saints boss has no fresh injury worries ahead of the game but Gaston Ramirez is still out with a hamstring injury and Florian Gardos remains on the sidelines with a knee problem.

Meanwhile, West Brom manager Tony Pulis believes his captain Darren Fletcher will make a great manager.

Fletcher joined the Baggies last February and Pulis has spoken with the former Manchester United midfielder about moving into coaching when he retires.

He said: "Fletcher is coaching/management material, he has got that in him, and one day hopefully he will do that.

"A lot of the top, top players earn so much that they can go away and have early retirements, work for the media, work for the press, so we don't tend to regurgitate them from great players into management.

"Fletch is a little bit different. I think (from) speaking to Darren he would like to get into coaching and would like to get into management and I certainly say the lad has the potential to be very good at it."

Pulis was prepared to give much away about the club's movements in the January transfer window but said that any player could be subject to a move, with no confirmed bids for Albion striker Saido Berahino at this stage.

Pulis said: "Every player is for sale if the price is right and if the club deem it to be right. The chairman (Jeremy Peace) will be the one who will control that and decide that.

"It's the chairman's football club and financially he has always controlled that in a way in which he has thought is the best way for West Bromwich Albion.

"Most of the business usually happens at the back end of the window so we will suck and see, we don't know what's going to happen yet."

Berahino has been linked with a move to many Premier League clubs including Tottenham, Chelsea and Newcastle but Pulis says there have been no offers to buy the 22-year-old yet.

The manager said: "It's all speculation, if a club comes in and actually buys him, we will be in a position to talk about it and no one has done that yet so he is still a West Bromwich Albion player."

West Brom face a Southampton side who are level on points with the Baggies and Pulis expects a tough game.

He said: "We have had three great results, two home wins and the point at Chelsea, seven points out of three games, it's good form for us.

"We know it will be a tough game for us, (Southampton) got a great win on Wednesday night against Watford so that will give their confidence a massive boost."

Source: PAR