Saints could have three back from injury and available to face Arsenal on Sunday to boost Ralph Hasenhuttl's chances of a first win in charge.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has been putting his squad through six days of intensive training ahead of the clash with Arsenal and although it is early days to improve the fitness levels, that will take a week or two, he has been boosted by the possible return of three players who were not available to him at Cardiff.

The good news is that one of those is Danny Ings and he is joined by Shane Long, some are not appreciative of Long who has now been out for almost six weeks, but prior to his injury he looked the best partner for Ings working well with him for our win up at Crystal Palace as well as being instrumental in helping create two great late chances at Bournemouth both of which were sadly spurned.

Both Ings and Long will suit the Austrian managers style of play although he may feel it better to hold them back a little and keep them fit for the trip to Huddersfield.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's game Hassenhuttl said.

“We have good news, we have a few players coming back this week and they are Danny Ings, Shane Long and Cédric. "

“They trained twice this week with the team, first as a smaller group at the beginning and they were able to join up with the whole squad today. None of them have had any problems after that.”

The only possible absentee to join Ryan Bertrand on the sidelines is Jack Stephens who sustained a knock to the knee in Friday’s training session at Staplewood.

“The bad news is that Jack Stephens has had a problem with his knees after a collision; we can’t say how bad it is or not for now but I hope it is not too serious for him.”

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 17:15 - Dec 14 This makes Long sound like a defensive MF who 'helps out' up front. If he is playing as an attacking option alongside Redmond and Ings then the fact that between them Long and Redmond have scored, since the start of LAST season, a grand total of what, 3 is it? Yoshi and Jack Stephens have scored more between them in that time. Long tries hard and runs around a lot but won't the new boss be expecting some goals??? PS apologies if I have miscounted but I can only remember 3...

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underweststand added 12:25 - Dec 15 It will be a good sign if "the three " mentioned above get some game time this weekend and see how they adapt to Ralph's new training regime. The fact that RH has started 1:1 interviews with players is a very good sign, and a chance for " both sides " to get to know each other better. Ralph will quickly make up his mind about those he sees as a part of his formation and others who might need to find regular football ... at another club. Like many others I noted Tadic's comments about "not being able to play football at Saints" , and it's true to say that after Koeman left the Puel / Pellegrino ways of doing things just didn't give his chances to exploit his talents. It's just a pity that he wasn't still here when Hughes left ... I don't like to think in terms of "get rid of " or "useless", because every player needs to find his right team and position and some of our players have got their chances after they moved to us. Three ex-Chelsea players; Jack Cork, Oriel Romeu and Ryan Bertrand - none of whom got a chance of regular football at Stamford Bridge - until they came to Saints, and their careers blossomed at SMS. I don't begrudge any player a move if he really wants it, but they must all live with the outcome of their own decisions. Clearly there are some who won't "make the cut" to adapt to the Hasenhuttl style, but I wish them well - wherever/whenever they move.

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straight_pass added 14:47 - Dec 15 Many fans have been saying the players simply aren't fit enough for PL matches, and now the new manager is working on fitness, did we really need a new manager to sort out this basic requirement? What have the existing coaches been doing during training since the beginning of this season! I’m very glad he is tackling the problem and share the general optimism that RH will make a big change with our squad and the way they play!

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