SAINTS manager Nathan Jones has confirmed that recalled defender Jan Bednarek is in contention to appear for his side in Tuesday night's EFL Cup semi-final clash with Newcastle United.

The Polish international only returned from his loan spell at Aston Villa on Monday but Jones confirmed his willingness to throw him straight into the mix in his press conference ahead of the upcoming first-leg at St Mary's.

Saints have also been handed a fitness boost after Jones revealed that January signings Mislav Orsic and Charly Alcaraz are now ‘ready’ to start.

READ MORE: Saints confirm recall of defender from Premier League loan

Arriving this month to bolster Jones’s squad, Orsic and Alcaraz have each made their Saints debuts from the bench in recent weeks but neither has earnt a start yet for their new club.

But after slowly integrating them into the team, Jones insists that both are now ready to start should they be called upon.

“When they come in you can be too bold with them early on and then you can lose them for weeks," Jones said in his press conference on Monday afternoon. "But now, they (Orsic and Alcaraz) are at a stage where they are ready to play.

In other news, Theo Walcott is back in contention while centre-back Armel Bella-Kotchap is closing in on a return to action - although the cup clash with Newcastle could come too soon for the German.

READ MORE: Caleta-Car addresses home woes after latest St Mary's defeat

“We’ve got Theo Walcott back as well which gives us something, Armel is closer. We’ve obviously got Janny B (Bednarek) in who can also play because he played in the first game, I think, so we’re in a lot stronger position in terms of options.

“We’re going to need it because we’ve got Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, and then Saturday again so the squad is going to be needed and we’re going to need the aggression and energy."

But it will still be some time before Tino Livramento returns with the full-back recovering from a hamstring problem as he continues to work his way back from the ACL tear he suffered in April

“Tino’s probably the furthest away in terms of we’ve got to be really careful with him," Jones said of his squad's longer-term absentees. "Not that it’s a bad injury but we’ve got to be really careful with Tino and we’re going to. The others are really close.

“Stuart Armstrong has been a groin thing where he’s had to have a minor procedure which is going to be days rather than weeks so that brings him closer. Armel’s exactly the same, Armel’s training and it’s just when we put him in.

“Juan’s (Larios) is like Romeo (Lavia), it was a bad injury in terms of muscular injury and to keep pushing and pushing him, we can’t. He’s a little dynamo and you can’t put him out there and say relax, calm down because he’s 100 miles an hour."

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