Southampton player given hope by international manager amid St Mary's struggles | OneFootball

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Southampton midfielder Joe Aribo looks to have been given some much-needed backing amid his struggles at the club.

That's after his international manager, Nigeria boss Jose Peseiro, insisted he still has faith in the 27-year-old.

How have things gone for Aribo since joining Southampton?

Aribo joined Southampton last summer, signing from Scottish giants Rangers for a reported £6million fee.

Since then however, the midfielder has found success and game time hard to come by for his current club.

Last season, Aribo managed just 21 league appearances for the Saints - starting just 13 of those - as the club were relegated from the Premier League to the Championshi, with the midfielder scoring only two goals.

The start of the current campaign under new manager Russell Martin, has yet to bring about much change in fortune for Aribo.

So far this season, the midfielder has made just four substitute appearances for Southampton in the Championship, without scoring or providing an assist.

Despite that, it seems that on the international stage at least, Aribo is still going to be getting opportunities for the time being.

Aribo in action for Nigeria over the international break

Despite his lack of regular game time for Southampton, Aribo still looks to be in contention for minutes with Nigeria at international level.

Having been called up by his country for the September international break, the midfielder came off the bench as a 64th minute substitute in a 6-0 thrashing of Sao Tome and Principe, that concluded the Super Eagles successful qualifying campaign for next year's Africa Cup of Nations tournament in the Ivory Coast.

That was the 19th senior international cap of Aribo's career, and it appears that his manager for Nigeria, is still ready to give him more, even if he is not playing regularly for Southampton.

What has Peseiro said about Aribo?

Given the lack of game time that Aribo is getting on a weekly basis for Southampton, Peseiro has inevitably been asked about his selection of the midfielder over this international break.

However, it is clear that the Nigeria boss does still have plenty of confidence in the abilities of the 27-year-old.

Speaking about his selection of Aribo, Peseiro was quoted by allnigeriasoccer as saying: "What I can say is that he doesn't play too much in the club, yes. But I believe in him.

"There are some players, not all the players, I think they have quality and capacity even without playing in the club.

"Of course, he didn't get too much time but he played. Me and my staff see 40 to 50 matches each weekend and in the middle when they play UEFA competitions and we check them on the television, live. If he's here, he is a good condition to play with us."

Is Peseiro taking the right approach with Aribo?

This does feel as though it is certainly the right approach for Peseiro to take with Aribo and the prospect of calling him up for Nigeria.

While things may not be working out for him at Southampton right now, the midfielder has previously shown during the earlier stages of his career with Charlton and Rangers, that he has a huge amount of quality and potential.

As a result, it would seem a mistake not to give him the chance to provide that for Nigeria going forward, given his experience playing at the level he has, could be useful for the Super Eagles in major tournaments.