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Ralph Hasenhuttl named his first starting XI since taking charge for the defeat against Cardiff City on Saturday, and it included just a second Premier League start of the season for Jan Bednarek.

The Austrian was seemingly unimpressed by the performances of Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida during the 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur previously, and decided to go with a completely new centre-back partnership of Bednarek and Jannik Vestergaard in south Wales.

It was a disastrous day for the latter in the end as it was his mistake that led to Callum Paterson’s winning goal for the hosts, which left the south coast outfit 19th in the standings.

His partner at the heart of the backline certainly grasped his rare opportunity to shine though, having featured for just 80 minutes in the top flight this term previously.

The 22-year-old, who is a regular starter for Poland at international level, showcased his defensive abilities on a tough afternoon in the Welsh capital because of the awful weather conditions, while he of course would have been lacking match fitness himself with the majority of his game time coming in the Carabao Cup.

Hasenhuttl will be looking for central defenders that are composed and comfortable in possession and Bednarek certainly showed signs that he can meet those needs, with an overall passing accuracy of just under 84% and having successfully completed five of his six attempted long balls, as per WhoScored.

Southampton centre-back Jan Bednarek's stats vs Cardiff

Meanwhile, he also made two tackles, three interceptions and 10 clearances against Neil Warnock's men, and aside from one poor bit of control he would have impressed his 51-year-old boss- certainly more than Vestergaard would have done.

The Austrian will be looking for players that can step up to the plate and meet his demands in the coming weeks to help Southampton get out of trouble, and Bednarek may just be the first success of Hasenhuttl's Saints reign.