Southampton's season record holder has Rusk's backing even after major downfall | OneFootball

Simon Rusk details the reason behind omitting Southampton's inaugural scorer this season, Yukinari Sugawara, for the first time from the recent West Ham matchday squad.

Within just weeks of interim Simon Rusk in office again, finally, some revival is being felt at St. Mary's. Well, all the cheers after Ugochukwu’s London equalizer proved that feeling right.

But honestly, the Scottish boss deserves all the praise for this. Be it his first short stint or the ongoing tenure, Rusk's on-plan brand of football and the ability to steer away from useless suggestions have been spot on.

Sounds exaggerated? Just take, for instance, this recent West Ham matchday tale.

Accept it or not, seeing Southampton's fixture squad ahead of the game must've sweated your palms too. And why wouldn't they? After all, Saints defender Yukinari Sugawara was omitted from the list.

Yet, the bigger fear was that it shouldn't be a follow-up on Puncheon's squad planning suggestion for Sugawara's case, who has been in talks for a summer move.

But, thankfully, it wasn’t either. Turns out, it was simply a strategic call from Rusk to exclude the man who kicked off the Saints’ goal tally this season from the matchday squad for the first time.

Simon Rusk backs Sugawara after shocking squad exclusion

In fact, what's special is that upon being questioned about the defender, Rusk not only backed him but hinted at a potential comeback next game.

As quoted by the Daily Echo, Rusk said: "Yuki was someone that missed out but he's well in the frame and if he trains well, he'll be back in contention to be part of next week's game."

Well, now that's commendable off-the-field support from boss Rusk to Sugawara, who has struggled for recognition quite a lot this month.

You know what? It's these moments that don't just help the player but in turn, maximize his loyalty to the club. Now, despite having a meagre Besiktas bid on the table, maybe this gesture changes Sugawara's heart to stay at Southampton next season.