SAINTS boss Russell Martin has sent his backing to young midfielder Shea Charles after his red card for Northern Ireland on Tuesday.

The 19 year old was sent off for two bookable offences in his national side's 1-0 defeat to Slovenia in midweek.

Charles has impressed at both club and international level so far this season where he has also shown his versatility, playing in defence and midfield.

But Martin does not want to take the aggression out of his game and expressed the importance the former Manchester City player will have in the squad 

"I have not seen him yet, he has not been back in yet,” Martin responded when asked if he had spoken to the teenager about his red card.

“I kind of try to leave them to it (when they are away on international duty) because I speak to them enough when they are here.

"I will have a chat with him this morning. I saw it, but I don’t think it’s something that you can take out of his game.

“Shea wants to win. He is aggressive and he breaks up play.

"He is a really important player for Northern Ireland and he will be a really important player for us."

The Northern Irishman has found himself out of the Saints starting line-up recently but Martin has been encouraged by the impact he has had off the bench.

He added: “I know Flynn (Downes) has played in front of him recently, but when he has come on from the bench he has had a really good impact on the games.

"We have really good competition in the midfield. We have people who can play a couple of different positions in there as well.

"Trying to find the right balance for different games is our job.

“It’s going to be nice to have everyone back in today and get some work done on the training pitch ahead of a big week."