Saints supporters will be alarmed to hear that Jannik Vestergaard is not likely to return to the Saints line up in the short term, a big blow as the Dane had become an integral part of the squad.

Speaking after the draw at Fulham when asked about the injuries in the squad, Ralph Hasenhuttl gave an update on the injury to central defender Jannik Vestergaard:

"Both Redmond and Ings have muscle injuries and we will have to see. They are both out but not as long as Jannik,"

"Vestergaard will be out for four week, maybe even more, we don't know.

"This is definitely not good," he said.

Vestergaard is struggling with fluid build-up in the knee while Ings (hamstring) and Redmond (hip) both have muscle injuries.

This means that if Hasenhuttl is correct, it will be at least February before the Danish defender will be likely to return to the side, January is a busy month, there are 5 Premier League fixtures scheduled including two midweek fixtures.

February starts with yet another midweek game, meaning that if Vestergaard was to be out for longer than 4 weeks and was not fit for the trip to Newcastle on 6th February, starting with this weeks home game against West Ham he would miss 8 games, when the Fulham game is added that could be almost a quarter of the season and it could be more.

The game at Fulham saw a clean sheet, but in truth Fulham had at least two occasions when players were left completely unmarked and should have scored.

The answer is that we need to look to the future not the past to solve the problem, we have to find out if Salisu is the answer, if he is not then we should consider bringing in someone during the January transfer window, this doesn't need to be a permanent signing, ideally a loan signing with experience in the Premier League, there are plenty of those about.

Photo: Action Images

WestSussexSaint added 10:26 - Dec 27 Stephens was okay against Fulham but definitely a step down on JVs recent performances and against a fairly limited attack. I think it is time to see what Salisu can do. A loan signing as cover would be a good shout depending on who is available.
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SonicBoom added 11:10 - Dec 27 If Salisu was any good wouldnt he have tried him by now? We paid ten million for him 6 months ago.
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JohnT added 11:26 - Dec 27 I think if Salisu was as good as they thought he would have been playing by now
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underweststand added 12:24 - Dec 27 Surely this is part of life in the Prem. Ralph (and most fans) clearly agree on our best start side and the bench as "second choicers" in event of injury, or a chance to get some game time. Now that we have an injury list; Ings, Vestergaard, Redmond we will need to rely on the bench more than ever. .. and thereby ...is the problem. YES...We don't have a second Vestergaard (and notably Liverpool don't have a second Van Dijk) but they seem to have overcome the problem when you look at the table. With a suggested 6 week absence for Jannick - it might be longer - we need to resolve the case for an alternative CB partnership. Thankfully, Jack Stephens really DAJFU yesterday, but as we have seen before, he does have "lapses " in his play and often they have cost us games. IF Salisu is to considered a suitable replacement we need to know and PDQ. IMHO Our major problem is we don't have "another Danny Ings". Even when Danny is fit enough to return everyone will start to wonder.... how long before the next injury? Alan Shearer once quoted on TV ..there is a lot of difference between being... "match fit " and...." being fit enough to play ". Certainly, Danny's recent return wasn't up to standard. I admire Ché Adams' (now just 1 goal in 7 games) and his contribution to every game is excellent, but clearly the Ings / Adams partnership really does work, but without we are toothless up front. ( 1 goal in last 3 matches). As long as we have alternatives it's fine, but I really feel our priority is now "another " striker , and make the best of our defensive situation - as it is. The real answer will be more apparent ....after January 2nd.

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saintmark1976 added 16:29 - Dec 27 It’s disappointing to learn of Vestergards expected length of absence. However, we have an experienced player to replace him in Stephens, so why are you already starting to advocate the need for a loan player Nick? Give the guy a chance for pity sake before you let your prejudice get the better of you.
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schatfield added 17:09 - Dec 27 Saintmark1976 because that is what Nick does...first chance he has to take a dig at Stephen's without saying his name, it is taken regardless of how well he plays (and he did play well yesterday). It wasnt that long ago this site was slating Vestergaard too.... Luckilly the Saints boss and board take no notice of nonsense written on sites like this
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SaintPaulVW added 18:38 - Dec 27 Stephens is the logical choice without Romeu in a cover position. I expect Salisu will start to get some game time soon but I expect it will be off the bench rather than as a starter.
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theralpholution added 19:47 - Dec 27 Bring in another centre-half on loan in January instead of playing Stephens who is a long time member of the squad and has played alongside Bednarek numerous times. How long would it take for this loan signing to get Ralph fit and then how long to understand the team's way of playing? By that time Vestergaard will be back. The point of having centre-half cover is that they are able to go straight into the team with minimal disruption and Stephens can do that as he did yesterday. He may not be quite as good as Vestergaard but that's the nature of defensive cover and why some players are on the bench, not in the first team.

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aceofthebase added 20:15 - Dec 27 Stephens fantastic block in the closing minutes save us a point, didn't you see that Nick? Unless we are four goal up at 60 minutes I fear we will never see Salisu. Why is RH so fearful of playing him? It is rare for a CB to be subbed unless for a serious injury. I don't think we should have started with Long, I would have preferred Che to play alongside either Walcott or Moussa. Walcott does run into dead ends,as does KWP but they often produce a free kick on the edge of the penalty area which has proved to be a winner. RH subs at 90 minutes totally pointless and unimaginative. Long should have been removed 15 minutes earlier

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lemmsy added 07:21 - Dec 28 Why such a fuss about Salish? It takes different individual’s different timescales to adapt to this level of football..A poignant example being vestergaard.For two seasons almost every fan didn’t think he was good enough & yet what a turnaround..Some players hit the ground running some take a while ( tadic, mane ) ,the manager has to be trusted.Talking of vestergaard, he will be missed in many ways, obviously defensively but also distribution & goal scoring threat.With our limited squad & intensity of football there is always going to be ups & downs but I think most would have accepted this at the start of the season.

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bigmart added 09:17 - Dec 28 I don't see why everyones having a meltdown at not seeing Salisu in action yet. With the form of Vestergaard and Bednarek who would be dropped. As for the game against Fulham, Stephens is more experienced than Salisu and too many changes had to be made already, no brainer really.
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davidargyll added 09:31 - Dec 28 Well worth reading this: https://eplanalysis.com/premier-league-2020-21-fulham-vs-southampton-tactical-an
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KohSamuiSaints added 13:34 - Dec 28 Something is not ringing right about the Mohammad Salisu player ... I read all the stories about how good this player was when we signed him , and his highly rated position , Where he had a rather unusual fact of his ability to learn very quickly and adapt to situations that he has been faced with in his career .... Surly if he is fit enough for the bench he should be fit enough to play ... Has anyone seen any of his performances for the under 23’s or the reserve team as I have always known it as ...?? Danny Ings has been very injury prone , even during his early days at AFC Bournemouth ...Dan N’Lundulu has all the attributes to play alongside Adams and has scored regularly for the 23’s side ... he is quick and has an eye for goal ... Is the Troy Deeney interest died as he would be a good replacement for Ings ... ( In my opinion ) I live away in Thailand but try to keep up to date on possible signings ... Can anyone throw any light on the bigger picture and are we selling the football club to the wealthy American ?? Who is the actual owners of Southampton FC at the moment please ? #COYS

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underweststand added 16:46 - Dec 28 to KohSamuiSaints : some good questions that a lot of us are also asking... Salisu - hasn't played any sort of competitive game for ANY Saints team since he joined , but he did have an injury when he arrived that has taken some time to heal. ALSO Vestergaard and Bednarek seem to be a good partnership and no-one (least of all Ralph) seems keen to change for the sake of it. Now JV is injured we may see changes. YES Danny Ings had a terrible times with injuries before, but he went through most of last season without problems and scored 6 this season before the current injury. Dan N'Lundulu hasn't played /scored as much as you might think. He's played in only half of the B team's 15 games, and scored in only two, although he did score a hat-trick in one game. He show a lot of running but a striker needs goals . ...none so far. The Troy Deeney story was probably " fake news" put out by a lazy journalist on a slow day. IMHO ..Deeney is tough, rather than skilful and I don't see him as a sub.for Ings. Mr.Gao is still the majority owner, and I don't think anyone will buy him out just now, as there is no money coming into the club and the debts will only increase until we get paying spectators back in the stadiums - after covid - whenever that will be. ?

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KohSamuiSaints added 11:36 - Dec 29 Thank you Underweststand .... it is difficult to keep fully updated out here my friend ....
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