Saints man in middle has fight on to face the Terriers
SOUTHAMPTON midfielder Mario Lemina is in doubt for the trip to Town this weekend.
The Gabon international missed out on the Saints’ squad for the visit of Arsenal last week, with the 25-year-old injuring his stomach in training on Saturday.
It was just the second Premier League match missed by Lemina this season, the only other coming on December 5 in the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley.
After beating Arsenal last weekend, new boss Ralph Hasenhuttl revealed why the Gabonese midfielder was absent from the match and was hopeful the injury would not keep the star out for too long.
He said: “Hopefully, not too serious. It’s about his stomach, it hurt him too much.
“If you can’t sprint 100 per cent, it’s better to say ‘no, it doesn’t work’ and we have to put in someone else.”
Lemina is listed as having a 75 per cent chance of playing against Town this weekend by Fantasy Premier League, while five of his team-mates are also in doubt.
Nathan Redmond (knock), Jack Stephens (knee) and Cedric Soares (calf) are all given a 75 per cent chance of featuring against David Wagner’s Terriers, while Ryan Bertrand (back) and Michael Obafemi (hamstring) have been handed a 50 per cent possibility of playing.
Out of the six doubtful stars, Redmond was the only to feature in the squad for the 3-2 win over the Gunners, but was substituted in the 63rd minute due to a knock.