Southampton have been dealt an untimely injury setback amid their preparations for Saturday’s clash with Liverpool at Anfield.
The Saints could be without Manolo Gabbiadini after the striker felt slight discomfort in his hamstring during training on Thursday.
His absence would force Mark Hughes to reconsider his striker options, with Liverpool loanee Danny Ings also inelligible to play against his parent club.
Gabbiadini will be monitored closely until the weekend, but now appears a doubt to feature on Merseyside.
Hughes told Southampton’s official website:”Our main concern is Manolo, who unfortunately pulled up in training today. It looks like he has an issue with his lower hamstring behind the knee; we think it might be a neural thing but we’ll check in the morning to see if it’s settled down.”
“Apart from Danny of course, he’s the only player in doubt at this stage. “We’ve got lots of options in the forward positions. Obviously, you don’t want to lose anyone of them but if he does miss out, we’ll prepare without Gabbi and Danny and still be strong enough.”
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Ings currently stands at Southampton’s top scorer on three goals and has been in excellent form since his summer switch from Liverpool.
The Englishman moved to St Mary’s on an initial loan that is set to eventually become a permanent deal worth in the region of £20million next season.
He is likely to be a far greater miss than Gabbiadini, who has only clocked a total of 50 minutes as understudy to Ings so far this campaign.
Charlie Austin could prove a worthy solution to their absence, whilst Shane Long also appears fit to retain his place in the starting lineup.
Liverpool appear to have no fresh injury concerns at this stage and head into the contest looking to extend a six game unbeaten run across all competitions.