Any Southampton transfer regret 'down to Will Still' after Leyton Orient exploits | OneFootball

FLW's Southampton fan pundit is a bit disappointed that Dom Ballard never got a real chance this past pre-season at St Mary's

Dom Ballard has been one of the surprises of the season, as Leyton Orient have once again seemingly plucked out the League One Golden Boot winner from a Championship club that didn't favour him.

The 21-year-old had an incredible scoring rate in the Southampton youth teams, but when it came to senior football, Ballard would hardly get a sniff. That, combined with uneventful loan spells at Reading, Blackpool and Cambridge United, saw the Saints happy to cut ties, and Richie Wellens' side were happy to capitalise.

21 goals in 35 games have put Ballard atop the third-tier scoring charts going into the final month of the campaign. He's scored three hat-tricks and has been a bright spark in an otherwise disappointing year for last season's beaten play-off finalists.

Understandably, Orient are keen to keep hold of the frontman, who not only has shown he is Championship standard this season, but also has age on his side to perhaps go even further. Because of this, the O's are demanding record bids for a third-tier player.

Alan Nixon reported over the Easter Weekend that Leyton Orient are using Jay Stansfield as a benchmark when valuing Ballard, who memorably cost Birmingham City £15 million a couple of summers ago.

Dom Ballard didn't get much of a chance this past pre-season at Southampton

Right now, Southampton aren't really feeling the effects of not having Ballard on their books, as the Saints are right in the hunt for promotion and have just beaten Premier League leaders Arsenal to book their place in the FA Cup semi-finals.

However, especially when you look at some of the striking options that they had in the first half of the campaign, with the likes of Damion Downes occupying a place on the bench, it seems like an opportunity missed to integrate an exciting academy product into the first team.

FLW's Southampton fan pundit, Martin Sanders, reiterated that Ballard was seemingly not up to scratch before this season, and isn't getting carried away over his first great year in senior football in the division below.

That being said, he still believes that the 21-year-old should have been given more of an opportunity this past summer to showcase what Leyton Orient have benefited from after the sale was made.

"I see all the stuff about Ballard. It's not like no one had a look at him, though. We had multiple managers come in and deem him not good enough," Sanders said.

"Bearing in mind, too, he's doing well at League One level, so nothing is saying that he'd be good enough in the Championship, but then, when you had someone like Downes, who was terrible, it all comes into question.

"He's a good player, and it's a shame he never broke through and had a proper chance in pre-season with the first team, but that was down to Will Still. He was the manager at the time, and he didn't have a look at him. I'm a bit gutted he didn't, to be honest.

"It is what it is, though, it's been and gone, and there's not a lot we can do about it now."

Will Still didn't have many, if any, highlights during his time as Southampton boss, with his tenure ending after just two wins in his 13 league outings at St Mary's, leaving the club 21st in the Championship.

A lot of Saints fans have questioned what could have been if Tonda Eckert were the manager throughout the entire campaign. The club may be comfortably in the top two, and they could have League One's top scorer leading their line, as well.

Dom Ballard will undergo massive Championship test when he makes a step up

Sanders, like many Southampton fans, won't be too demoralised by Ballard's goalscoring ventures this season as, like the fan pundit alluded to, the step-up to the Championship can often prove difficult.

Last year, Orient had the top scorer in League One in Charlie Kelman, but this season, the American has been in and out of the Charlton Athletic squad and has scored just six second-tier goals.

With Southampton holding Premier League expectations, they'd need someone leading their line who would be able to score close to 20 goals to help assist in their promotion push. Frankly, in the summer, Ballard wasn't that man, and there isn't anything concrete even now to prove that he would be.

It's been an impressive debut campaign at the BetWright Stadium for the 21-year-old, and the future is very bright.

Southampton may come to rue letting him go in the near future, but for now, they won't be losing too much sleep over not having a top-end League One striker in their promotion-challenging squad in the Championship.