Stephens back in full training

The defender has been sidelined since picking up an injury in the first half of Saints’ 2-1 win over QPR at St Mary’s back in August.

Three months on, Stephens is training again and hoping to be available for selection sooner rather than later, as Martin takes his side to Huddersfield this weekend.

“We had Jack Stephens back out on the grass today, so he got a bit of a round of applause this morning in the meeting room,” Martin told the media at his pre-match press conference.

“It’s a big day for him, the captain, to be back on the grass and training with the group again. He’s worked so hard – the club have documented a bit of that on the social media – but his attitude has been immense.

“He’s going to take a little bit of time, but at least he’s back with the group now. We have to manage him through this period, and hopefully we can get him back in the squad soon.”

Ross Stewart is ready to build on his Saints debut against West Brom

Elsewhere, Ross Stewart has made further progress at Staplewood since making his Saints debut in the victory over West Brom last time out.

“He’s looking really good,” Martin added. “He stepped it up again against MK [Dons] in a behind-closed-doors match here and played a bit longer.

“I don’t want to put too much expectation on Ross because he’s been out for a long time, but the reception he got was incredible, from the fans, the energy he showed when he was on the pitch – I put him in a bit of a different position, but it’s one that he can do, so I think he’s building up really nicely and it’s been really good for him, this period.”

The manager also reported no new injury concerns following the international break, in which Saints had several senior players in action around the globe.

“Everyone has come back relatively fit,” he said. “The guys who have been here are closer to fitness than they were two weeks ago, so I think we’re in pretty good shape.

“We’ve had people who have done a lot of travelling as well, so the hardest thing now is picking a team, because we’ve had some real consistency, but we have a three-game week, we’ve had people nursing a few injuries, we’ve had people go away and play varying minutes with varying amounts of travel, so it’s been an interesting preparation.

“Now we are ready and prepared for another different test ahead of a really, really busy schedule. I think we’ve utilised the time well for the guys who have stayed, and for the guys who have come back, it’s nice to have them back.”