Flynn Downes opens up after captaining Southampton against his former club Ipswich

However, Stephens suffered an injury last season, forcing him to miss the majority of the first half of the season, and Adam Armstrong

was chosen to take over as captain in his absence.

Stephens has continued to captain this season, although after receiving a reckless red card against Manchester United, Taylor Harwood-

Bellis was elected captain in the Carabao Cup victory against Everton last week, despite being only 22.

With Stephens serving the second match of his three-game suspension in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town, summer signing Flynn

Downes captained the Saints instead of Harwood-Bellis.

Downes and Harwood-Bellis both earned permanent contracts with Southampton this summer after helping the team win promotion

while on loan last season.

Martin is a big fan of Downes, and the Saints manager is eager to reunite with the midfielder he supervised at Swansea City last season

before permanently signing him for £18 million this summer.

Downes, a fan favorite at Southampton, expressed his joy at being named captain. However, he acknowledged that it was strange that it

came against the club where he came through the academy and also captained, Ipswich. He stated post-match, “It was a bit of a bad

one!”But to captain this club, with all of the boys and staff, in front of all of the fans, was a true honour in my career, and possibly the

biggest one I’ve ever had. “It was a delight, and it was funny to do it against them.

JUST IN: Flynn Downes opens up after captaining Southampton against his former club Ipswich