Saints have been training ahead of the game against Everton on Saturday and there have been several notable absentee's as well as those returning to training after injury, here we give a run down on the squad.

First absentee from training was Alex McCarthy, mind you he has not been in training with the squad since suffering a hamstring injury against Brighton on 4th September, Ralph Hasenhuttl was openly critical of the keeper after that game and since then Fraser Forster has been first choice along with Willy Caballero.

The pecking order seems to be Forster then Caballero and it will be interesting to see if that changes when McCarthy is fit again, it could be that after the manager's comments back in December that McCarthy has played his last game for the club being out of contract in the summer.

Central defender Lyanco who limped off against Coventry also with a hamstring injury is also missing, it was said that he like McCarthy could be out for 2-3 months, so this is no surprise and it could be April before he is back.

Another defender not seen on Wednesday's session was Romain Perraud, he was with the squad earlier in the week, but absent in pictures from Wednesday, whether he has a knock of some kind is unclear, however Thierry Small was pictured training with the squad, so it could be Perraud is doubtful for Saturday.

Not a big problem for Ralph though, aside from Small he has the option of playing Kyle Walker Peters in the left back spot with Tino Livramento now back with the squad after missing a chunk of January with a knee issue.

Jan Bednarek came off against Manchester United at half time on Saturday due to a tightness in a quad, but he has trained normally this week so it looks like it has responded to treatment.

Another who looks to be back in contention is Nathan Redmond, he has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, but he has been seen back in training and taking a part in the full contact sessions.

Nathan Tella though looks to be still out with his groin injury and won't be part of the squad, however with Nathan Redmond back, Moussa Djenepo returning from the African Nations cup and Stuart Armstrong seemingly having put his injury woes behind him, the wide area won't be a problem.

Photo: Action Images

TimSaint added 13:53 - Feb 17 Perraud would be a miss. He has really come on strongly and will surely get that elusive goal sometime soon !! Would keep the same starting line-up as the last 2 games if possible, leaving plenty of options from the bench, if and when required. We usually do quite well at home to Everton, so hopefully this will continue and we get the Frank Lampard's Everton that played against Newcastle, as opposed to the Frank Lampard's Everton that played Leeds.

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underweststand added 15:32 - Feb 17 Of course - in " Fairytale land", Thierry Small would get game time and play a blinder against his old club, but life is seldom like that. Having watched him in B team matches it's clear he is good as a wing back who can also score the odd goal, but defenders are primarily there to DEFEND, and he didn't get to grips with that in the Coventry Cup game. Small has got to play sometime, and when you get selected to play in the Prem. there is no place to hide - no matter who you're up against. IF selected, Small would come up against Richarlison, who has a annoying habit of scoring against us, so Ralph may want to think about that a while before posting his start side. On the other hand, Salisu had a good game when we played at Goodison - despite the final result - and whilst the MF and Strikers may remain unchanged, it'll be a key question of who Ralph selects for the back four. With Broja and Adams in good scoring form, we must hope that we end up with 3 more home points and more goals than Everton are likely to get.

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Whatsforpud added 15:42 - Feb 17 Just to get the facts right, McCarthy's last appearance was 4th December, not September.
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highfield49 added 15:49 - Feb 17 Can't pass up the opportunity for a bit of sarcasm so I'm going to say that I wish it had been September when McCarthy last played. Just to think of those additional points we could have in the bank already.
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Peterx added 17:30 - Feb 17 Everton are going to be a tough nut to crack with the likes of Richarlison, Calvert Lewin, Gordon and Alain being quality players. We have been playing well, but if we don't turn up this could go badly. Happy at least that Gray is out which limits the supply to DCL. Please lets not be remotest bit overconfident for this game.
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Manooman added 17:47 - Feb 17 I'm hoping for another 9-0, else Ralph is off to Man United.😂
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