Southampton's build-up to this weekend's clash with Sunderland will have been an understandably weird one, considering the Saints had their mid-week match at St. Mary's with Preston North End postponed.
Russell Martin's men couldn't back up a dramatic win away at Birmingham City with another potential three points owing to the late cancellation, with Sunderland now the opposition next up for the Championship promotion hopefuls to get the better of.
Having had more time to think about what XI he could field with no Wednesday night fixture to assess things off of, Martin could surprisingly axe this reliable presence in the midfield to face off against Mike Dodds' out-of-form Black Cats.
Stuart Armstrong's performance vs Birmingham in numbers
The former Dundee United midfielder has been a regular under Martin this campaign, amassing an impressive six assists and four goals from 35 total second-tier appearances.
Still, away from the £65k-per-week Scotsman being dependable for large portions of the season, Stuart Armstrong's fixed spot in the Saints lineup could be up for grabs based on his unmemorable display away at Birmingham last weekend.
Armstrong would squander possession a total of 23 times in the middle of the park at St. Andrew's, a costly amount when you consider the fact that Tony Mowbray's hosts kept finding ways to get back into the enthralling 4-3 contest.
Minutes played
90
Touches
79
Accurate passes
48/61
Accurate crosses
2/11
Shots on goal
1
Duels won
3/6
Possession lost
23x
As can be seen in the table above, the Saints number 17 had an off-day against Birmingham to the point where Martin could consider springing a surprise on Sunderland by dropping him completely.
Various different reserve players could benefit from Martin potentially axing the 31-year-old midfielder, with a selection dilemma now on the manager's hands as to who could come in and do a job in the experienced Saints man's absence.
The players that could replace Stuart Armstrong
Martin could bring the likes of Joe Aribo or Joe Rothwell into the first-team fold over Armstrong for the game tomorrow, with Aribo firing in the winner late on from off the bench against Birmingham when coming on for Will Smallbone.
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Rothwell has also shone for Southampton in patches here and there since joining from AFC Bournemouth on loan in January, firing in two goals for his new short-term employers so far from 11 appearances.
One of those goals was a first-time wonder strike against Huddersfield Town last month in the Championship, the sublime strike helping Southampton get the better of a tricky Terriers side 5-3 on the day.
Yet to sit out an entire game for Southampton this campaign – with Armstrong playing in some capacity in every single second-tier game this season for his South Coast side – Martin will know utilising his full squad away from the Scotsman could work against Sunderland.
Arguably, with Southampton experiencing some rocky form recently that has seen them lose significant ground in the automatic promotion hunt, the time could be right for other stars to shine in central midfield away from Armstrong being kept in the starting lineup.
