Fraser Forster and Graziano Pelle are set to give Saints a huge injury boost as the club enters what Ronald Koeman believes is a defining period in their season.

Forster returns to the first team squad after ten months out of action following a horror knee injury sustained in March last year, while Pelle is fit and fresh after several games in the treatment room.

Saints host Watford at St Mary’s tonight ahead of another pivotal match with West Brom at the weekend knowing their season could go either way.

“Yes it makes the direction for the rest of the season,” said Koeman of the upcoming games.

“It can be positive, it can be negative.”

He added: “We know the situation, it’s an important week – Watford home, West Brom home.

“We are between two situations between the end of the season. One is positive result and the distance to the teams fighting to European football is seven points.

“Look down and it’s seven points to the teams fighting relegation and that’s all about what we play in the next two games.”

Forster was pulled out of the under-21s match on Monday night as a precaution with Maarten Stekelenburg having strained his hamstring against Crystal Palace.

Stekelenburg is in with a chance of facing Watford tonight having trained with the team yesterday, but if not Koeman confirmed Forster will start his first game since March 2015.

Also back is Pelle after a niggling knee injury which hampered him before he needed time out.

He fit and fresh and raring to go, and Koeman hopes the duo returning will have a positive impact as Saints look to end their poor run of form.

“It’s a perfect time to have everybody back, even that Fraser is back in the squad because that will give a boost to everybody,” said the Saints boss.

“Of course, normally we played always with Graziano in front and we know his qualities, the team know his qualities.

“He is strong, he is keeping the ball in front and Shane (Long) in my opinion did it very well.

“Maybe he missed two or three big chances one-against-one with the goalkeepers but he created a lot, he was doing his movements, but he’s a different type of attacker than Graziano is. That needs time.

“It’s good to have everybody and all the options what you need.”

Of Pelle he added: “He was struggling a few weeks already with his knee problem, and that problem came out of plying too much, international with Italy.

“Ok, we decide to take him out, to give him the time to recover and to come back as strong as possible and now he’s back.

“He looks more fresh than he was.

“Maybe he did too much sessions on 60 or 70 per cent and that’s sometimes difficult because then I believe you start to play the weekend also at 60 or 70 per cent. You are used to the pain.

“That was the big decision what we had to make, to put him out to give him the time to recover and then he is back at 100 per cent what we need, and what he needs to play on his level.”