Southampton go into a key clash with Cardiff City this weekend given the layout of the bottom of the Premier League table.
Defeat would make things slightly more dicey again, but victory would see us move five points clear of the relegation spots, so it’s very much all to play for.
With manager Ralph Hasenhuttl confirming that we are now without striker Danny Ings with his hamstring problem expected to sideline him for two to three weeks, there is some good news on an injury front – and we do now welcome back Maya Yoshida from Asian Cup international action.
Speaking to saintsfc as he gave his weekly press conference ahead of the game, the Austrian explained.
“We’ll have Pierre Hojbjerg back after his concussion. We missed him at the weekend and it’s good that he’s back. I don’t think we’re showing we have problems scoring. Nathan Redmond is showing fantastic form at the moment; we should be more focussed on achieving clean sheets. Ryan Bertrand is back, he’s training consistently. And Maya Yoshida is back from the Asia Cup. So that gives us more options defensively.”
Whether or not Bertrand is deemed fit enough to start remains open for debate as Hasenhuttl also referenced that the 29-year-old was still ‘raising’ his ‘physical strength’ so he’s not yet considered fully fit in some ways.
