Salisu is 'the future' for Saints, despite still waiting for his debut

The Ghanaian centre-half was signed from Real Valladolid for £10.9million back in August but is yet to play a minute for the St Mary’s side this season.

Hasenhuttl was forced to change his centre-back pairing of Jan Bednarek and Jannik Vestergaard ahead of Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Fulham – with the latter out with a knee injury.

But the Austrian opted to recall Jack Stephens for the contest instead of handing 21-year-old Salisu his debut.

Asked when Salisu, who has been an unused substitute on five occasions for Saints, would get his chance, Hasenhuttl said: “Sali is the future at this club and this will take time.

“We know how long other players needed to step into the team and how long it takes.

“But he has so much potential and I think on Saturday it was important for me, as I said, to not bring him in because the team is not really settled and it would be too difficult I think.

“But at the moment we are calm, I am happy he’s here and he shows with every session that he can help us.”

Stephens was brought back into Hasenhuttl’s side for the battle at Fulham after a six-game absence, helping his side to a clean sheet.

The previous time he featured for Saints came at left-back in a 2-0 victory over Newcastle back in November.

With Vestergaard set to be out for up to four weeks or more, Hasenhuttl stressed it was crucial to have 26-year-old Stephens to call on.

“For me it was important that I bring in first a player who is used to what we are doing,” he added.

“When you immediately have three changes in the team you need to have as much automatism as possible.

“I think Sali could also play well, I’m sure, but it’s not so easy to step into a team that has a few changes, so I tried to give players a chance who know more about our shape and what we are doing. I think it was the right decision.”

Stephens is expected to keep his place when Saints host West Ham in the Premier League on Tuesday (6pm).