Downes, aged 25, has been sidelined for recent matches against Cardiff City and Leicester City, both resulting in losses for Southampton.
Their track record without Downes is concerning, having secured only two wins out of ten Championship fixtures in his absence.
Martin, when queried about Downes’ potential inclusion before the playoffs, admitted that while they won’t take any unnecessary risks with him, he remains part of the squad.
“It’s not a risk if he enters the pitch. I don’t think there’s any point in risking him, so if he gets on the pitch tomorrow, it’ll be part of the plan.
“And if he doesn’t, it’ll be the same, it’ll be part of the plan.”
Southampton is anticipated to include Sekou Mara in the squad following the completion of his three-game suspension. However, Martin’s team faced another setback in midfield as Joe Rothwell was substituted in the first half during Tuesday’s match.
This injury comes shortly after Stuart Armstrong’s season-ending quad injury suffered against Cardiff. While Martin remains hopeful about Rothwell’s fitness for the Stoke encounter, he admitted that the loanee from Cherries won’t be starting.
“We’re hoping to have him involved, so we will wait and see how he’s reacted from training today,” he continued.
“He didn’t do the whole training session, we’re trying to manage it through, but he won’t start the game because he had to come off the other night, but hopefully he’ll be involved.”
Southampton is anticipated to include Sekou Mara in the squad following the completion of his three-game suspension. However, Martin’s team faced another setback in midfield as Joe Rothwell was substituted in the first half during Tuesday’s match.
This injury comes shortly after Stuart Armstrong’s season-ending quad injury suffered against Cardiff. While Martin remains hopeful about Rothwell’s fitness for the Stoke encounter, he admitted that the loanee from Cherries won’t be starting.
“I have played against a Steven Schumacher team before, they’ll be aggressive. They’ll be good. They’ll try and play.
“It’s a surprise to me that they are where they are in the league. He’s a very good manager.
“I’m convinced they’re not going to come in and play negatively with their approach. They are going to have a real go and we have to be ready for that.
“But we have to play the game we want to play. We didn’t do enough on Tuesday night and tomorrow we have to.”