After ending Dean Smith's reign at Aston Villa with a 1-0 win over the Midlands club prior to the international break, Southampton have the chance to get his time at Norwich City off to a bad start when they travel to Carrow Road this weekend for their latest Premier League match.

In terms of which players Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl could pick to face the Canaries on Saturday afternoon, one man who we think deserves to be in the starting XI on this occasion is centre-back Lyanco.

Why Lyanco must start for Saints

Since joining the south coast club back in August on a four-year deal from Torino in Serie A, the Brazilian has only started two games for Southampton, which both came in the Carabao Cup.

the defender, who has been labelled as a "fantastic character" by Hasenhuttl, made his Premier League debut when he came on as a late substitute during their 1-0 win over Watford before playing the last 34 minutes of their 1-0 victory against Villa.

During his time on the pitch against Smith's former employers, Lyanco showed what a useful defensive unite he can be for the Saints by blocking two shots and making one tackle, one interception and one clearance, whilst winning three of his four duels. He ultimately earned himself a solid overall match rating of 7/10 from SofaScore, despite only playing just over half an hour.

With this in mind, and Hasenhuttl recently revealing that he will be making changes to his team and giving some fringe players the chance to prove themselves in the coming weeks and months, the game against Norwich could be a great opportunity to give Lyanco his first start in the Premier League against a side who have only scored five goals in 11 games.

In terms of who the 24-year-old could replace in the starting XI, he could come in ahead of someone like Jan Bednarek, who played the full 90 minutes in Poland's recent 2-1 defeat against Hungary earlier in the week and could arguably need a rest. He has also played every minute of league action for Southampton since their 0-0 draw against Manchester City in September.

If Hasenhuttl does start Lyanco against the Canaries and the Brazilian manages to put in another solid performance throughout the full game, he could well cement his place in the team for the time being and prove why the club were right to bring him to St Mary's.

In other news: Southampton handed huge fitness boost ahead of Norwich clash, fans will be buzzing