Manolo Gabbiadini, Virgil van Dijk and Charlie Austin are all injured.
Southampton’s Manolo Gabbiadini netted a brace in the EFL Cup Final
Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini will miss Saturday’s clash with neighbours Bournemouth, his manager has revealed, via the club’s official Twitter account.
The Italian, who had scored in each of his first four games for the club bagging six goals in total, had to be replaced after half an hour of the last match versus Tottenham with what appeared to be a groin injury.
He was forced to withdraw from the Italy squad as a result and Claude Puel confirmed he will stay on the sidelines this weekend.
“I think Gabbiadni cannot play this game,” he said. “He is not available, we will see for the next [game].”
Shane Long would be the obvious choice to replace Gabbiadini up top, while Jay Rodriguez is also a possibility, although the duo have only scored seven Premier League goals between them this season.
Charlie Austin hasn’t played since hurting his shoulder in Southampton’s Europa League exit
Despite being out since early December, Charlie Austin remains the Saints’ top scorer with six league goals and Puel disclosed that he isn’t too far away from playing again.
“I hope he can come back in three weeks,” Puel said, adding that Austin was back on the training ground but following a personalised regime.
The manager also confirmed that Virgil van Dijk is still some way off full fitness and didn’t sound too hopeful of seeing him play again this campaign.
“It’s a long injury and we will see if he [can] come back before the end of the season,” he said.
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