Ralph Hasenhuttl has revealed that Tino Livramento could be out for a long time, even suggesting that it could be as long as a year before he returns to first team action, with surgery being considered.
Tino Livramento has been a revelation this season for Saints and up till his last appearance on Boxing Day at West Ham had played virtually every minute of the Premier League season.
But he had been struggling with an injury that kept him out of the Spurs game and now it seems that it could be a long time before he returns according to Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Speaking after the win at Swansea in the FA Cup he had this to say:
"The meniscus injury, even if it is a light one... I know this from my own son, it was a year out.
"We don't know. At the moment we try it without surgery, but we have to look how serious it is.
"It is always an alarm for me when they (medical team) don't want to speak.
"It is not good when they are not coming to me. But I will go to them every day to ask them."
So the diagnosis at the moment is not great, although the fact that with this type of injury it can repair itself is a ray of hope, however as Ralph says no one knows how long that it will take it can vary from person to person.
The Meniscus is basically a cartilage in the joint that acts as a cushion or shock absorber between the joints, it is fairly common, the only real decision is whether it will be treated by rest or surgery.
From a team point of view, this won't be a major problem for Ralph, Kyle Walker Peters can return to his natural position and we still have cover in this position with Yan Valery, and Romain Perraud slot in at left back, indeed in that position Thierry Small is chomping at the bit to make his debut for Saints since joining from Everton.
But obviously Tino is a real talent and we want to see him back as early as possible, but on the other hand we do not need to rush him back, so we can take our time in getting his recovery right and make sure that we don't do further damage by trying to get him back too early.