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This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...

When Maya Yoshida started at the heart of the three-man defence against Feyenoord during pre-season, it seemed as though he was set for a regular spot in the starting XI this season.

Jack Stephens had missed the trip to the Netherlands because of injury, but given his continued unpopularity – as shown by the reaction by these fans to his display against Burnley on Saturday – not many would have picked him ahead of the Japan international anyway.

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl appears to disagree though, and it now seems likely that had the former Plymouth youngster been fit, it would have been him who partnered Jannik Vestergaard and Jan Bednarek in Rotterdam instead.

That is exactly what happened a week later in the final pre-season encounter against Cologne at St Mary's, as the Austrian clearly tested out the team he wanted to play at Turf Moor from the start – had it not been for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's illness it would have been two identical XIs.

So it was Stephens who got the nod against the Clarets, and to be fair his performance could have been a lot worse before he was taken off in the 72nd minute as Hasenhuttl decided to throw caution to the wind with his team 3-0 down.

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But all three of those goals came from defensive errors on the left-hand side – something Stephens, Vestergaard and indeed wing-back Ryan Bertrand need to take a large portion of the responsibility for.

The Denmark international's misjudgement – albeit in tough conditions – of the ball launched into the air by Burnley prior to the first goal was poor to say the least, while he completely switched off when Ashley Barnes ghosted in unmarked for the second.

Yoshida would have been watching on knowing that those were the types of mistakes he once made on a semi-regular basis in a red and white shirt, and the reason why he has often found himself as back up rather than in the side during his seven years at St Mary's.

Given he has had players of the calibre of Jose Fonte, Toby Alderweireld and Virgil van Dijk ahead of him in times gone by, that isn't too surprising.

However, there have never been any murmurings of discontent behind the scenes at a lack of first-team action, as he has got on with whatever situation he has found himself in like the true professional that he is.

Southampton are in a different place now though and they simply don't have quality individuals like the aforementioned trio in their backline, or midfielders like Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama in front shielding them.

That is what makes Yoshida's absence as things stand even more confusing, because he is their most experienced Premier League player who has improved over the years following his move from the Eredivisie in 2012, and he is a leader – as shown by the fact that he currently captains his country.

Arguably he is also their best – or at the very least the best of a bad bunch – and quickest centre-half, with Vestergaard and Stephens prone to errors and Bednarek clearly still learning his trade at the age of 23.

In that respect then and with the deadline day addition of another youngster in Kevin Danso who could feasibly replace Stephens in the near future, Yoshida would have every right to be cheesed off with Hasenhuttl right now and be inclined to throw his toys out of the pram ahead of the visit of Liverpool on Saturday.

Fortunately, he just isn't that sort of player.

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