RUBEN SELLES ADMITTED Gavin Bazunu was not happy at being dropped for Southampton’s defeat to Bournemouth last night.

The Saints manager made the decision to replace the Ireland international with veteran Alex McCarthy, insisting that the 33-year-old will provide greater experience for their Premier League relegation battle.

Southampton remain rooted to the bottom of the table, six points from safety with five games remaining, after suffering another loss to their south-coast rivals.

Bazunu had started all of the previous 32 fixtures and, along with captain James Ward-Prowse, was the only first-team player to feature in every minute of the campaign.

“Of course he wasn’t happy. But he understood the decision,” Selles explained. “He is the young goalkeeper with the most minutes in Europe as we have said and he’s had a good season in the Premier League.

“But I made the decision together with the rest of the technical staff using some of the facts that we just need to give it a try. Alex has been training and competing really well and he showed us a good level.

“The conversation has been clear and direct as usual with all three goalkeepers and with the direction that we took for the game.”

Selles also hinted that Bazunu is unlikely to feature again this term as McCarthy is “a player that has been in these situations before”.

“Alex has been working very well in the last weeks and he didn’t have the chance to compete for the goalkeeper spot as he had injuries during the season.

“Finally five weeks ago he was able to train and compete for the position and he’s been very good. We try to turn every stone in the team and see how we can make them better.

“Alex has been training well and he’s a player that has been in these situations before. He helped the team some years ago to stay in the Premier League with his performances and we thought that was the correct game to bring him in and then give him the chance. That’s what we did.”