Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has hinted that Graziano Pelle has responded well to being dropped on the weekend.
The Italian striker, who joined the Saints from Feyenoord for £9million in the summer, has not scored for the south coast club in the Premier League since December 20.
He kicked off his career at St Mary's with six goals in his first eight outings but has failed to reproduce that early-season form of late which saw him benched for last weekend's 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
"There has been a little bit of a reaction, yes, because nobody is happy to stay on the bench," confirmed Koeman who used Shane Long instead at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
"Sometimes you need a reaction off the player in that situation. He is doing well."
For breaking stories and all the great banter like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tribalfootball