FORGOTTEN man Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg could be given a chance to prove himself in Saints' crunch game against Everton at St Mary's.

With Oriol Romeu serving a one-game suspension after his fifth yellow card of the season in the 3-0 defeat at Liverpool and Mario Lemina's injury status unclear at this point, Mauricio Pellegrino may turn to the Dane.

Hojbjerg has played just six minutes of football this term, having come on as a late substitute in the 1-1 draw at Brighton in October.

Pellegrino previously reassured the midfielder that his time will come and that he believes he can be an important player for Saints.

And with Saints bereft of form and potentially personnel in the middle of the park, Hojbjerg could be just the man to help galvanise the team.

Influential midfielder Lemina, who had become established next to Romeu at the base of midfield, has been suffering from an ankle injury and has missed the last three games.

The Gabon international, who joined for a club-record fee from Juventus in the summer, has been a big miss and without Romeu, Pellegrino will be sweating on his status.

Even if Lemina is available the temptation to give Hojbjerg a go would still be there, given Romeu's absence and Steven Davis' attributes further up the pitch.

Saints continue to struggle for goals, having scored nine in 12 matches, but Davis, who has netted twice this term, is able to contribute well further forward.

But since Lemina's absence, the Northern Ireland international has joined Romeu further back in midfield, leaving him unable to have that impact in attack.

However, Hojbjerg may well offer a solution to this and, considering his lack of game time, should be well motivated when the opportunity to play presents itself.

The 22-year-old started well at Saints last season, following his £12.8m move from Bayern Munich in July 2016.

He made 35 appearances in all competitions, but his performances faded and he was eventually dropped from the Denmark national team. He hasn't played for the national team for more than a year now.

There has been growing concern in his homeland over his progress, having gone from one of the country's best young players to stalling at Saints.

He's been viewed as 'one for the future' at Saints and considering his age, there is plenty of time for him to breakthrough.

However, with Lemina and Romeu as well as Davis ahead of him in the pecking order, his game-time has been very restricted.

Mostly, Hojbjerg has played for the under-23s and in friendlies during the international breaks. He scored in a 5-1 friendly win over Championship side Fulham earlier this month at Staplewood.

But he might now be drafted in as Saints face Everton in a must-win game at St Mary's.

Saints currently sit four points off the bottom three and are in a bad slump in form, having won once in their seven matches.