Southampton head coach Ivan Juric has suggested that new signing Albert Gronbaek can provide competition for Mateus Fernandes ahead of their huge match away to Ipswich Town on Saturday.

Danish international Gronbaek arrived on loan from French side Rennes over a week ago and is yet to feature for Saints, but Juric stressed that he has a role to play.

"I think the best position for him is the position of Mateus Fernandes," said Juric.

"He can even play as a forward or even at the back, as he has played sometimes for the national team, but I think where he's expressing himself the best is the position of Mateus.

"Of course it's a different standard, but he played in the national team and he played some good games. Sometimes players are like [Kamaldeen] Sulemana.

"They go to one place and cannot express themselves, and then maybe something changes, and they are good. I think he's a good player, and he will do great here."

Gronbaek is expected to make his first appearance at Portman Road, while Ipswich head coach Kieran McKenna is hoping for a more competitive performance than in their 4-1 defeat at Liverpool last time out.

"It has been a tough two-game block, and it's come at a tricky stage of the season for us," he said. "But if we take the lessons in the right way, we will be stronger for it, and it'll help us in the games coming up.

"Look, it's a difficult game on top of a difficult game. We've made some mistakes that we can learn from. There are reasons for that as well, but I feel like it's one that, if we take the lessons in the right way and work hard on them, we can be stronger for."

During that game, forward Wes Burns was stretchered off with what looked like a knee injury. It is, according to McKenna, potentially a serious one for Burns.

"Not good," he said when asked about the Welshman. "It wasn't an impact, it was a movement. We've got our fingers crossed, but the knee's very swollen, and he's on crutches. He'll be going for a scan. We hope that it's not as bad as it looks, but it does look like a serious one."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Ipswich – Liam Delap

Delap has scored eight goals in the Premier League this season, which is at least twice as many as any other Ipswich player.

The 21-year-old has netted two of Ipswich's last five league goals, including a goal against Chelsea in late December.

Southampton – Mateus Fernandes

Fernandes got an assist against Nottingham Forest in Southampton's most recent away game in the Premier League.

The 20-year-old has also averaged 2.5 shots per game in his last five league appearances and will be hoping to strike the decisive blow against the Tractor Boys. 

MATCH PREDICTION: IPSWICH WIN

Ipswich are unbeaten in their last four league meetings with Southampton (W2 D2), winning this exact fixture 3-2 in the Championship last season.

Southampton have earned just six points in 23 Premier League matches this season (W1 D3 L19), the fewest of any side at this stage of a campaign. The only two other sides to have one win after 23 games are West Brom in 2004-05 and Derby in 2007-08.

Saints have lost all six of their Premier League matches under Ivan Juric, with Juric just the second manager to lose his first six games in charge of a club, along with Mick McCarthy at Sunderland (lost first 14). Southampton have never previously lost seven consecutive league games.

Only Tottenham (21) have dropped more points from winning positions than Southampton (20) in the Premier League this season.

Saints have lost 71% of their games when scoring first (5/7), the highest ratio by a side in one season, while they’ve shipped 2.14 goals per game after going 1-0 up, with only Sheffield United last season conceding more per game when scoring the opener (2.27).

Saints have also faced the most shots on target (34) and have conceded the most xG (12.9) in the Premier League this campaign.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Ipswich – 49.5%

Draw – 24.4%

Southampton – 26.1%