Southampton 0-1 Newcastle: Joe Aribo left out of Saints squad for the first time

Joe Aribo was left of out of the Southampton team that lost 1-0 to Newcastle Tuesday evening thereby crashing out of the EFL (Carabao) cup at the semifinal stage.

It was the first time the 26 year old Nigerian would not make Matchday squad for the Saints.

In fact the former Glasgow Rangers star midfielder has, prior to the Newcastle game failed to appear for the third straight game on Saturday against Aston Villa.

It is also the third EFL Cup match the Nigerian has missed after sitting on the bench for the entire fourth round and quarterfinal mathes against Lincoln City (2-1) and Manchester City (2-0) respectively.

Aribo has now missed five games for Southampton and all after Nathan Jones was brought in to replace Ralph Hasenhuttl last November.

Jones has however insisted that the Super Eagle is merely a victim of the numbers in his position and the emergence of James Ward-Prowse as an attacking midfield option.

‘We’ve got a lot of midfield players, a lot of people. So we’re just trying to find a balance in there where we get the best out of everyone.

‘Joe has been been a little bit of a victim but he’s played well. He came into the game against Crystal Palace the other day and had an impact.

‘We’ve had a few out, we’ve had a few people come back in, we’ve had a lot of games, we’ve played James Ward-Prowse in an advanced position and he scored goals so that’s kind of Joe’s position.

“So he’s been a victim of a few things really but look, we like Joe and Joe trains hard. He’s a great character in terms of everything.

So it takes time, you know, and as I said, we’re in the thick of it now in terms of games so I’m sure Joe will contribute.’ Jones told the Daily Echo last week.