Southampton manager Ruben Selles described his choice to start Sekou Mara against West Ham United as a no brainer."
Selles had to replace the injured Che Adams for the clash, which his side lost 1-0.
Mara has still not scored a goal in the Premier League for his club, and was taken off in the 54th minute of the game.
Asked about the selection choice, per the Daily Echo, Selles said: "It is what it is. We know that they go with the international team we cannot control what they do and I would say it's part of the game.
I think we have a great squad and Che especially has been playing a lot for us but if we cannot call on him because of that injury then we need to replace him and I think Skou has been doing a fantastic job for us and it was a no brainer for us to use him in the game."
He added: It's disappointing because you cannot come with them and you cannot control them and that's the big part of it but we make the best of it and we have players to replace him."