Martin Caceres has been passed fit to play against Tottenham

Caceres, the former Barcelona and Juventus man who was brought in on a free transfer last month, has completed two full under-23s matches and is now ready to battle for his place at centre-back.

The 29-year-old has been working up to match fitness, having not played a game in more than a year before his arrival at St Mary’s.

Now boss Claude Puel revealed that Caceres has now proved fit enough to challenge Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens for a place at central defence.

“I’m pleased with his progression and the attitude of Martin,” said Puel. “He played the last two games with the under-23s against Chelsea and Manchester United, which was important for him.

“He is now available and he now comes in with the competition between the centre-backs.

“Martin’s at a good level with good training sessions and he’s available for the team.”

After Saints leaked three goals in the 4-3 win at Watford last time out, Puel would not rule out the possibility of handing Caceres a place in his eleven at White Hart Lane.

“We will see for that,” he said. “It’s now a competition between Caceres, Stephens, Yoshida and Gardos. We have those solutions now.

“In April we’ve got to play every three days after the international break and we don’t know what can happen in the international games.

“It’s important to have Martin with us.”

Meanwhile, nine-goal top-scorer Charlie Austin has returned to first-team training as he continues his comeback from a dislocated shoulder.

Austin has been out since early December, having suffered the injury in Saints’ Europa League draw with Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

The striker joined his team-mates at Staplewood and Puel admitted it was “fantastic” to see the 27-year-old back on the pitch.

The St Mary’s chief also revealed that long-term absentee Jeremy Pied is back in training with the under-23s.

The attacking right-back was brought in by Puel last summer, but sustained a nasty knee injury in training in August.

Puel stated that Austin’s first-team return is still some time away, with appearances for the under-23s to come before any comeback.

“You can see, for example, in the training session this morning, it was fantastic, every goal he can score he celebrates,” said Puel, reconstructing Austin’s training ground celebration by lifting his hands above his head and fist pumping.

“It was like an official game for him,” he added, smiling. “It was fantastic to see him this morning.”

Puel is excited by the prospect of having free-scoring Manolo Gabbiadini, who has scored six goals in his first four games at Saints, and Austin, Jay Rodriguez and Shane Long competing for one striker’s place.

“It’s not just Charlie or Gabbiadini, it’s Jay Rodriguez and Shane Long, we have four striker for the same position,” he said.

“It’s always a competition between them. We have four good strikers. Manolo plays and scores, so perhaps for the moment it’s difficult for the others.

"But it’s a good thing to have good competition between themselves.

“We will see when we have a choice.

"It’s interesting, but with one game in two weeks it’s difficult for some players.

“We developed many players since the beginning of the season with all these games played. Now with one game it’s difficult for some players.

“But it’s a good thing to have many different possibilities.”