Che Adams has used his enforced break from the Saints side to “push the reset button.”

The £15m striker was left out of the squad for the defeat at Tottenham last weekend after what had been a tough first few months at the club.

Adams has been carrying the burden of failing to score since his summer move from Birmingham and, despite some good performances, looked increasingly short of confidence.

Ralph Hasenhuttl opted to give him a rest and feels the 23-year-old has come back refreshed and ready to go again.

He said: “Che played every game until the last game from the beginning and 90 minutes against Portsmouth and I wanted to give him one time a rest.

“It shows even if like him you look for scoring which didn’t work.

“He showed this week he is in better condition and clear of mind and it’s an option for Sunday.

“I had also a very long conversation with him and I was not unhappy with his performance because he worked very hard for the team.

“Sometimes you have to take the pressure off and he can start again and push the reset button and then give him another chance to maybe come from the bench or show the team that he can really help us.

“I am absolutely convinced that he will do it in the future.”

Life has got tougher for Adams due to the form of Danny Ings, who has scored three times in his last two appearances.

“I think he really lives what we are asking for,” said Hasenhuttl of Ings.

“That means attacking them early and he has scored two times in the Premier League with winning balls from the goalkeeper.

“In pre-season we had another game where we scored early from pressing.

“He makes it quite well when the team is following him and it’s not easy to build up against us.

“He tries to stay online and this is very important for our game.”

Ings leading the line in the way Hasenhuttl wants has been important for Saints as a team and should be again when they face Chelsea at St Mary’s tomorrow.

“Our game is not really focused on man to man marking as we are trying to be ball oriented and against big teams that is more important because the individual quality is maybe higher than other teams,” he said.

“We try to work and defend in our net and then work together.

“If we do this and are committed then we showed in the first rounds we can compare with the big teams.

“To win is not impossible if you have a very concentrated 90 minutes.”