Ralph Hasenhuttl has announced that Jan Bednarek could be a doubt for tonight’s Premier League clash against Crystal Palace due to an Achilles problem.
Speaking to the press ahead of today’s trip to south London via the club’s official website, the Austrian manager admitted that Bednarek might be excluded from tonight’s fixture against the Eagles due to problems with the Polish international’s Achilles.
As stats from Transfermarkt show, Bednarek has played every minute of Premier League football for the Saints this season, with the defender opening the scoring on Saturday against Wolves in what was ultimately a 3-2 defeat for Southampton, ending the club’s five-game unbeaten run.
Hasenhuttl said about Bednarek’s fitness issue: “We have Jan Bednarek who has a little bit of a problem with his Achilles. So far, the rest were a little bit tired I think yesterday, but today let’s have a look. We have training in the afternoon so can have a look.”
Is the defence the number one area Ralph must improve this window?Yes, we leak in too many goalsNo, things are starting to turn around for us |
The Saints will be hoping to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat which snapped their impressive run in the Premier League which saw the south coast side shoot up the Premier League table from 18th to 12th as records from Transfermarkt show, but having Bednarek absent from tonight’s fixture could cause some problems for Hasenhuttl.
Indeed, Bednarek has been a pivotal player to the Austrian’s system ever since the former RB Leipzig manager arrived at St. Mary’s with stats from Transfermarkt showing that the 23-year-old centre-back has played every single minute of Premier League football since Hasenhuttl’s arrival in December 2018.
The Polish international will be a big blow for tonight’s match if he is unavailable for selection given how reliant Hasenhuttl is on Bednarek, and the Saints manager will be hoping his star defender can return to fitness just in time for the trip to Selhurst Park.
