MARTIN Caceres could finally make his Saints debut against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.

Fellow centre-back Maya Yoshida will have travelled more than 14,000 miles around the world while on international duty with Japan and will likely be rested for the Cherries' visit.

That means fresh legs Caceres, who has been building up his fitness further at Staplewood under the careful watch of Claude Puel, is pushing to start alongside Jack Stephens, as Saints begin a run of three games in a week.

Yoshida, who will begin his trip back to the south coast after Japan’s World Cup qualifier against Thailand today, rarely plays immediately after long international trips - although has never previously had such a prominent role as he does now at Saints.

Caceres, the former Juventus and Barcelona man, has been at Saints for six weeks now, having signed as a free agent in mid-February to bolster the ranks after the injury to Virgil van Dijk and the departure of Jose Fonte.

The central defender has played two full games for the club’s under-23s against Chelsea and Manchester United and, after coming through those unscathed, was declared ready for action by Puel.

Prior to the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham last time out, the St Mary’s boss said: “I’m pleased with his progression and the attitude of Martin.

“He played the last two games with the under-23s against Chelsea and Manchester United, which was important for him.

“He is available and he now comes in with the competition between the centre-backs.”

With Puel unlikely to keep the same team throughout the coming flurry of matches, which will see Saints play three games in a week, the 29-year-old is fully expected to get some playing time.

Caceres has been working up to full fitness having not played in anger for more than a year on his arrival at St Mary’s.

The last competitive first team game he played was back in February 2016, when he ruptured his Achilles tendon during Juventus’ 1-0 win over Genoa in Serie A.

Puel has been monitoring his progress carefully and believes he is ready for frontline duties, although has been waiting for an opportune moment to deploy his new man.

With Yoshida and Stephens proving capable during a good run of form, which saw his side win back-to-back away matches in the Premier League, Puel saw little need to disrupt their partnership.

But, after a quiet March, Saints hit a busy period in April and, as a result, the French boss will be looking to make the most of his squad.

For the first time in eight weeks, Puel’s men play at St Mary’s against Cherries on Saturday and then lowly Crystal Palace next Wednesday (April 5), before travelling to West Bromwich Albion on April 8 as the Premier League campaign enters its final couple of months.

As such, Puel is likely to temporarily reinstate some rotation to the team and that, it is thought, will include bringing in Caceres for his debut.