Saints do have some injury issues for the longest trip of the season up to St James Park to take on Newcastle United, but hopefully they can cope with those that might be missing.

Biggest loss might be Sofiane Boufal who is still suffering the after affects of an altercation with a kitchen unit that injured his toe.

Although Boufal was on the bench on Wednesday night Ralph Hasenhuttl revealed that he was nursing him and hoping he would not be needed.

“Boufal’s toe is still a problem with him not training. The last game he was on the bench but there was no reason to bring him in so I decided to give him the rest."

“Tomorrow he will train for the first time. I must look how he is and we must pay attention because such an injury can take a long time if you’re not careful.”

Stuart Armstrong is close to a return but won't be in the squad according to Hasenhuttl.

"Armstrong is close to recovering from a hamstring injury and while he will not be available on Sunday, he may be ready next weekend. "

“It’s good that Stuie is back on the pitch, it’s just running, but maybe he is an option for West Ham.”

Other than that it is a case of making sure that no one is going to over stretch themselves by playing three games in a week, and from that point of view Ralph may make a change or two.

"We have a few issues with the high workload the players did with a lot of sprinting,”

"I think for the weekend these players will all be able to play and it’s on me to decide if I go again with the team that invested a lot two times or if I put a few fresh players in."

“I think the subs in the last games also did a very good job and we were getting better when we were changing players."

“In the end we need to decide who is really an option for me.”

If this was the case it would not surprise me if the manager rested Danny Ings from the start, either using Shane Long alone upfront or Che Adams alongside him.

Photo: Action Images

halftimeorange added 17:06 - Dec 6 I'm not sure that starting without your main attacking threat (Ings) is a good idea although I can understand the need to nurse him for future outings. I'd rather see him on and giving us the chance of a poacher's goal than see him thrown on to try and drag Saints back into it. My feeling is that Adams isn't up to it but, if he can feed off Long's ball-winning ability then maybe he will get that elusive first goal. Despite what RH is suggesting about freshening things up it would surely be folly to tamper with what is becoming a settled starting eleven.

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1970 added 18:03 - Dec 6 We need to play two up top against the toon if we start backing off we will get overrun like we did a few seasons ago, a point would be a small success I think coys
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robcoe5 added 18:24 - Dec 6 You would of noticed Ings tweaked his hamstring when he volleyed in the second half. I would expect he will be rested to prevent a long term injury
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LoisDeem added 09:53 - Dec 9 Perhaps we should have saved Danny, as his magnificent performance proved a waste of time. We missed a couple of sitters and then sat back, once again proving that we delude ourselves by apparently 'controlling' the game. We're running out of time, so shooting boots on, along with defensive awareness. If only we had the best performing goal keeper in the British Isles on our books -doh!

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