Ivan Juric explains why he didn't start Sulemana against Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Southampton manager Ivan Juric explains his decision to play Kamaldeen Sulemana as a substitute against Nottingham Forest.

Southampton were expected to make changes in their attacking department against Nottingham Forest. The reason is that Tyler Dibling's ankle injury will keep him sidelined for around a month.

Cameron Archer seemed the best candidate to replace him upfront. Ivan Juric also did the same but made another unexpected lineup change.

That was replacing Kamaldeen Sulemana to bring Adam Armstrong.

Don't get it wrong, Sulemana hasn't been a superb player for Southampton. Still, the recent matches have offered some hope that the Ghanaian might finally take his Saints career back on track.

Last week, Sulemana scored against Swansea and looked in great touch against Manchester United. It could be argued that Southampton may have even won the game if Sulemana had scored a goal.

Thus, the 22-year-old was expected to lead the Saints attack in Dibling's absence. Understandably, benching him has raised many doubts and Ivan Juric has come forward to address that.

Ivan Juric explains why he didn't start Sulemana against Nottingham Forest

As quoted by the Daily Echo, Juric said: "Sulemana doesn't play for 90 minutes for two years and he had lots of injuries and we had to be careful about him."

There is no denying that Sulemana has seen his fair share of injury struggles at Southampton.

Without him, the attack looked completely uninspiring in the first half. Nottingham Forest scored three unanswered goals and the Saints were left to attempt a huge comeback.

Southampton hasn't scored three goals in a single Premier League game, so far. Thus, securing a draw seemed far fetched and another defeat looked almost certain.

Still, the Saints scored two goals and pushed for a late equalizer. Though it didn't happen, the overall second half effort was commendable.

Sulemana played a good cameo as a substitute which will boost his confidence even further.

There's almost a week until the next game, so, let's hope Sulemana remains fit to start there.