Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has confirmed that our FA Cup replay on Wednesday evening will come too soon for trio Danny Ings, Mario Lemina and Ryan Bertrand, but he remains hopeful that he’ll be able to welcome them back to contention for the weekend’s clash against Everton in our Premier League clash.
With this week seeing back to back home games at St Mary’s Stadium, we can probably expect a fair amount of rotation as we’ll surely prioritise the league campaign.
Speaking about team selections for both upcoming matches, Hasenhuttl told saintsfc that any of the three players mentioned above could return on Saturday, but we would then also welcome back midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as he will have completed his suspension by then. As will Yann Valery and Charlie Austin if I’ve got my timings right.
“We have to find the right mixture. We will continue to try and give the young guys chances in the future. Callum Slattery is an option, absolutely. We have to look at what shape we’re playing. We have three suspended players, who will miss Wednesday but will be available for the weekend. Injured players are coming back piece by piece. Bertrand is training with the team, Ings will hopefully return to training tomorrow and Lemina was in the group today.”
Players returning will certainly be a boost to our chances to pick up back to back wins again and we’d be hopeful of having enough in the tank to book our place in the next round of the Cup as well.
The only downside to his confirmation was that Michael Obafemi remains sidelined with his injury issue, as he needs a ‘few more weeks’ yet.
