Diamond Edwards, an attacking midfielder, tasted the highs and lows of a young professional footballer’s life in the space of just a few weeks. When he came on as a 90th minute substitute in Saints 3-0 win at Cambridge in the League Cup, he was regarded as an outstanding talent on the verge of a promising career and yet, in a little under a month, he had suffered an ACL injury in a U21 fixture which meant he missed the remainder of that season and his career stalled. Although he was given a new contract that took him up to 2025, he was allowed to have a trial at Port Vale in the close season of 2024 and their manager, Darren Moore, was impressed enough to offer him a one-year deal.