Forgotten man Florin Gardos could make his first Saints appearance in nearly two years against Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round today.

Claude Puel is set to rotate his weary team again, with a young team lined-up to face the Gunners.

Gardos, who hasn’t played since February 2015 because of injuries, has been monitored by Puel ahead today’s match, with options limited at centre-back.

With Virgil van Dijk injured and Jose Fonte now at West Ham, Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens, who played together in the League Cup on Wednesday night at Liverpool, are the only other centre-back options available.

But Puel will be keen to rest one of them, with a trip to Swansea in the Premier League fast approaching on Tuesday night.

“Florin comes back in to the squad tomorrow,” the boss said. “We will see if he can start or not, but he came back with a good level in the training sessions.

“His last game was with the under-23s, but we will see if he can play many times without injury because it has been difficult for him since the beginning of the season.

“It’s difficult after every injury to come back at a good level, but for the moment it’s interesting and I hope he can continue this good work.”

Captain Van Dijk remains out for the Arsenal game, while Jay Rodriguez and James Ward-Prowse are both sidelined because of minor ankle problems.

Ward-Prowse is expected to be back against the Swans, while Rodriguez is likely to return against West Ham a week today.

“For us for this game we don’t have Austin, Van Dijk, McCarthy, Hesketh, Pied, Ward-Prowse, Rodriguez and a lot of players,” said Puel.

“For Arsenal it’s one or two players [injured], it’s not a lot of difference, but for us we have a lot of injuries.

“I have to have a good balance between young and experienced players to play this game.”