Saints could go top of the Premier League against Newcastle United but they will do so battling adversity as the injury list lengthens, here we look at who are the walking wounded and how we are going to have to cope.
Danny Ings is obviously the headline news on the injury list and hopefully the minor op yesterday actually was minor and the recovery period of 4-6 weeks is accurate,
Ralph had this to say:
"The scan and the message (on Danny Ings on Monday morning) was exactly what we thought. We had a look at the scan and it wasn’t too bad. It showed issues but it could have been a lot worse situation or injury.
"We started running yesterday, a little bit of jogging on the pitch and his knee was swollen and in a little bit of pain. It was definitely a situation where he immediately stopped so it didn’t get worse and it was clear we needed another look.
"We've decided to go with the surgery because it was the safest way to have a 4-6 week break only. The knee problem is not a previous issue, it’s a small surgery and hopefully he won’t be out for too long."
The good news here is that we have plenty of options to replace him, including the obvious in Shane Long, Theo Walcott who can play down the middle up front and a few youngsters like Michael Obafemi or Dan N' Lundulu.
In the midfield Ibranhima Diallo has a knock and could be doubtful with a dead leg and if is fit he could well have make his full debut, Will Smallbone is also still out and given perhaps James Ward Prowse might need to be pressed into service at full back we are short on replacing him in midfield.
Perhaps the biggest loss would be Jan Bednarek who is apparently still struggling after his head injury at Villa Park, here Ralph really has a problem, slotting Jack Stephens into the defence at half time was not exactly a success on Sunday, although Stephens didn't make individual errors the balance of the defence was disturbed and we didn't look the unit we did in the previous games.
Mohamed Salisu does not seem to be an option with Ralph saying he is still not ready and it would be folly to give him a debut without first giving him a run out with the B team.
Another big issue is Ryan Bertrand, he tweaked a hamstring and came off at Villa before real damage was done, but with only 5 days rest between the Villa game and Newcastle it might be risky to put him in the side.
The problem is Jake Vokins is also injured, so the obvious replacement is not an option.
Another option is to move Kyle Walker Peters to left back and slot in someone else on the left, Yan Valery would be the obvious choice to slot in for Walker Peters here, or possibly James Ward Prowse.
But switching Walker Peters to the left back would mean that the balance of the defence would be drastically changed if Jan Bednarek doesn't pass muster and he would be loathe to change three of the four positions, two will be bad enough.
Saints fans must wonder why adversity always seems to hit our club just as it is going so well, here we are playing to go top of the league, but we are faced with the heart being ripped out of the team, Jan Bednarek, Danny Ings and Ryan Bertrand have been the heart of the recent unbeaten run, it is not a squad problem in that we have people to replace them, but then the crisis worsens, not only are there injuries to the direct replacements, but also to those who would replace the likes of James Ward Prowse if he should move into defence, you could not make this up as no one would believe you.
But some of Saints greatest results have come with our backs to the wall and hopefully we have players who can step up to the plate, we have tried and tested replacements, the real issue is the upheaval in swapping a few players around.
Ralph Hasenhuttl is a shrewd operator though and likes to keep the opposition guessing, so hopefully one or two of these injuries might not be as bad as feared and we might see a player or two