Throughout the season, Saints have barely been able to scrape two central defenders together with predictable results, until Burley finally stumbled upon a fit pairing who have overseen a massive improvement in Saints' defensive record, Bennett and Davies.
Burley now faces the unusual prospect of having two more central defenders in the mix with the return of Powell and Thomas. With Wright filling in at right back admirably until a difficult afternoon at Coventry, there is an argument for putting Thomas or Davies out at right back until Ifil returns.
Things are rarely stable though at St Mary's with news that Steve Coppell is considering recalling Alan Bennett, with Reading duo Bikey and Sonko due to head off to the African Nations Cup. Few would have objected to this barely a month ago, but Bennett has proved the doubters wrong with some impressive performances, earning himself a slot in the Championship's team of the week.
There are also doubts over the future of the second of the pairing, Andrew Davies. Given our financial problems, Saints are unlikely to be able to stump up the mooted £1m required to make his move permanent, unless of course the loan deal can be extended to a season one.
If not, it could be all change again at the back.