The international break has, once again, proven itself to be a curse on fantasy football. At long last, Gameweek 8 had given us Sergio Aguero’s season breakout game as he racked up six more points than his previous seven weeks combined.

It looked like Aguero and the captain’s armband would be a marriage made in heaven for the rest of the season. As it turns out, the gargantuan points haul was merely a parting gift from the Argentine.

In case you’re somehow considering holding Aguero during his lay-off, don’t be so silly. You need to remove him from your team immediately. The best replacement? Graziano Pelle.

It’s rare that an option has been so concrete this season but Pelle is the perfect stopgap for the next five weeks. With fixtures against Leicester, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Stoke (three of which at St. Mary’s) in the next five, he’s got an irresistible schedule.

In fact, considering he has already notched double-digit hauls against Man United and Chelsea, he’ll be undaunted by the toughest of his upcoming fixtures which sees Southampton travel to Liverpool next week.

The big plus, of course, is his form. He’s scored more fantasy points than anyone else in his position. No need to overcomplicate this decision.

Aguero hasn’t been the only casualty from the break, though, and some teams may still be suffering from a spill-over of injuries from the last domestic gameweeks. Callum Wilson, bizarrely, has been kept by several managers with a view to transferring him out after the break, for example.

If you are opening up your fantasy team this evening to be met by a handful of yellow, orange and red flags, it may be time to use that wildcard if you still have the option.

This is the week where you can kick the asses of your mini league rivals if you have that wildcard up your sleeve. As they scramble around with points hits to fix the damage of the week off, you’ll have repaired the damage and improved your fit players, too, all without taking a points hit.

A wildcard is great when you can utilise it to maximise coverage ahead of a sweet set of fixtures. But, ultimately, it should always be used in a time of crisis to avoid the crisis from hitting your points total hard.

Southampton's Graziano Pelle celebrates after scoring against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Gameweek 9

As mentioned above, Graziano Pelle should now be in your team, given the logic that Sergio Aguero should have been in your team up until this point. Leicester will concede at Southampton this week and I would feel much safer with the 8.2-priced forward leading my line. A captaincy option.

His leading captaincy rival this week will be Kevin de Bruyne. With Bournemouth at the Etihad this week, Aguero looked like a captaincy no-brainer so de Bruyne (10.4) could benefit hugely by picking up the pieces, now.

On that note, if you’re feeling brave, Wilfried Bony (8.2) could become the master picker of pieces. He will more than likely start up front for City during their sans-Sergio spell and will have the lion’s share of the side’s big chances, you would expect. The problem? He’s yet to bag a goal this term.

Once again, West Brom defensive coverage looks a great option this week as they host Sunderland. Sure, Allardyce, will bring the solidity back to the Black Cats, but whether he’ll have sharpened the spear enough to breach Pulis’ side remains to be seen. Craig Dawson is now the outstanding option in that defence (unless you’ve opted for Boaz Myhill in goals), considering Jhnny Evans’ injury problems have resurfaced. Pick up Dawson for 5.1.

There’s also potential for decent value between the Newcastle sticks, now. Rob Elliot is the side’s only fit goalkeeper and comes in at a price of just 4.0. I wouldn’t waste a transfer on this, but something to keep in mind for those on wildcards looking to save some cash. They host Norwich this week.

Elsewhere, Yohan Cabaye (6.5) could do damage at home to West Ham, Sadio Mane (7.9) joins Pelle in the potentially-explosive bracket versus Leicester this week and Aleksandar Mitrovic (6.2) is an outside punt, given his season opener against City in Gameweek 8 and Norwich at home this week.