FORGOTTEN man Florin Gardos could finally be set to make his St Mary’s return tonight.

His 21-month injury-induced absence will be over if he lines up for Saints Under-23s tonight in the Checktrade Trophy match against Crawley Town.

The Romanian central defender, who was signed for £6m in 2014 from Steaua Bucharest, missed the entire 2015/16 season with a knee problem, and then suffered another injury setback last summer.

Gardos has not appeared for Saints at St Mary’s in a competitive game since 11 February 2015 in a 0-0 Premier League draw with West Ham.

But that could all change this evening when Martin Hunter’s side take on League Two Crawley as they complete their regional group stage matches.

The 28-year-old has appeared twice for the under-23s in matches against Derby County and Manchester City over the past month and could potentially be involved tonight as he continues to regain fitness ahead of a return to Claude Puel’s first team.

The 6ft4inch defender has made just 18 appearances since his move from Steaua, with injuries hampering his progress.

His last game was in a 1-0 defeat at West Brom at the end of February 2015.

However, with his rehabilitation nearly complete, the Romanian may well give Puel a timely boost ahead of a hectic run of games during the lead up to Christmas.

With academy defender Jack Stephens on duty with England Under-21s, Gardos has the chance to re-acclimatise to St Mary’s and prove his fitness to Puel for the under-23s.

After that he will hope to knuckle down and really begin his Saints career after nearly two years and compete for a place in the first team.

Although Jose Fonte and Virgil van Dijk are the undisputed first-choice central defence partnership, the fixture congestion will likely give Gardos a chance to establish himself.

Saints have nine games in the space of a month in the lead up to Christmas and Puel will not want Van Dijk and Fonte playing every game.

Puel has rotated throughout the busy run and is expected to continue with that policy. That should come as good news for Gardos, who will also compete with Maya Yoshida for a place in the team.