Has Nathan Wood's move from Swansea City to Southampton gone to plan so far? | OneFootball

We take a look at how Nathan Wood is getting on after swapping Swansea for Premier League side Southampton

It's been a tough start to life for Southampton in the Premier League, and they currently sit in 19th place after seven games, picking up just one point.

Swansea City supporters may be keeping a close eye on how the Saints fare in the top-flight this season, with former manager Russell Martin in charge at St Mary's, and with a number of former players now plying their trade for the club.

The likes of Flynn Downes, Ryan Manning and Nathan Wood are all part of Martin's side, with the trio enjoying successful spells at Swansea over the course of the last couple of seasons.

Wood was the last player to leave Swansea for Southampton, and he completed a summer switch worth a reported £3million, with it being clear that Martin was desperate to bring him to St Mary's.

Swansea turned down bids of £10million the previous summer for Wood, so selling him for a lot less the following year was far from ideal, but his contract situation forced the club into selling.

With that in mind, we've taken a look at if Wood's move to the South Coast has gone to plan so far.

Nathan Wood has struggled for minutes at Southampton so far this season

The Saints have played seven Premier League games this season, but Wood is yet to make his top-flight debut, and he's only made the matchday squad on two occasions in the league, not even being named in the squad for the other five games.

He was part of the matchday squad for their trip to Newcastle United on the first day of the season, along with their draw with Ipswich last month, but it looks as if he's going to have to wait a little while before making his Premier League debut.

Wood has played twice for the Saints in the EFL Cup, making his debut for the club in a 5-3 win over Cardiff City, a game which may have actually done him more harm than good given the fact the Bluebirds have desperately struggled for goals in the Championship, scoring just four times in nine league games.

However, he also started Southampton's next fixture in the EFL Cup, a 1-1 draw away to Everton which saw them defeat the Toffees on penalties, and a solid performance against a fellow Premier League side would have done his reputation no harm.

The Saints host Stoke City in the next round, a game they will be confident of winning, and Wood will be looking forward to that fixture as his next opportunity to get some valuable minutes, and hopefully force his way into Martin's Premier League plans.

Nathan Wood's move to Southampton probably hasn't gone to plan yet

When Martin first wanted to sign Wood last summer, the Saints were a Championship side and the plan was presumably for the centre-back to become a mainstay in their side, but their promotion to the Premier League means that Wood will have to bide his time thanks to the players above him in the pecking order.

The Saints have the likes of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jan Bednarek, Jack Stephens, Ronnie Edwards and Armel Bella-Kotchap at their disposal, so it's perhaps easy to see why Wood has struggled for minutes.

Perhaps Wood knew he was signing up to play a bit-part role when he completed his summer move to St Mary's, and it's clear he enjoys a good relationship with Martin, so he's perhaps not too disheartened with his lack of minutes so far.

The 22-year-old is still a youngster and has a four-year deal at the club, so while he may have struggled to make a breakthrough just yet, there's still plenty of time for him to do so, and Martin clearly had a plan in place for him when he brought him to the club.