Nigeria internationals Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo will feature under a new manager at Southampton following the sacking of Ivan Juric after the club’s Premier League’s relegation was confirmed on Sunday.
Southampton became the earliest team ever to be relegated from the Premier League, with their 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur seeing their demotion confirmed with seven games to go.
Simon Rusk will take charge of the team until the end of the season.
Rusk took charge briefly when Russell Martin, Juric’s predecessor left St Mary’s.
“Ivan came to Southampton at a tough time and was tasked with trying to improve a squad in a difficult situation,” the Saints said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t seen performances progress the way we had hoped, but we would like to thank Ivan and his staff for their honesty and hard work as they fought against the odds to try and keep us up.
“With relegation to the Championship now confirmed, we believe it is important to give fans, players and staff some clarity on the future as we head into a very important summer.
“The process of finding a new manager to lead us as we look to secure an immediate return to the Premier League has now begun and is being led by Group Technical Director Johannes Spors.
“In the meantime, Simon Rusk has agreed to take charge of the team as Interim Manager for the remaining seven fixtures of this season and will be assisted by Adam Lallana.
“We remain incredibly grateful for the ongoing support of our fans. Their continued dedication and passion, despite what has been a very tough season, is remarkable and is appreciated by everyone at the club.
“Despite the challenges that relegation will bring, our goal is to restore a sense of pride for them in their team and club once again.”
Juric’s time at the Saints club lasted just 108 days.
He was appointed in the week before Christmas and was handed an 18-month contract, with a break clause which would be reviewed at the end of the season.
The Croatian boss, who was dismissed by Roma after six-week last November, won just one out of his 14 Premier League games in charge, which was a 2-1 win over Ipswich at the start of February.
He lost 12 out of those 14 matches, with the Saints averaging 2.7 Premier League goals conceded under him.
