Jan Bednarek has been rewarded for his end of season breakthrough by Saints fans, who have voted the Polish defender as their Under Armour Player of the Month for May.
Parachuted into the starting XI for the first time in the Premier League for a scoring debut against Chelsea at St Mary’s the previous month, the 22-year-old went from strength to strength in a red and white shirt.
As Southampton’s push to safety gained momentum so too do did Bednarek, producing assured and confident showings on the right-hand side of Mark Hughes’s three-man defence against Leicester, Bournemouth, Everton and Swansea to help his team towards the finish line.
The Pole could only watch on as his team finished the job in the final 30 minutes in South Wales but his rise to prominence will go down as one of the brighter moments from Saints’ enthralling conclusion to the 2017/18 season.
His efforts have been rewarded with a well-deserved player of the month title just a week on from securing his place in Poland’s provisional squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.