Southampton: Wesley Hoedt an injury doubt for Watford game
By Marc Walker
Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt is an injury doubt ahead of his side’s Premier League clash with Watford this weekend.
Saints manager Mark Hughes named the Dutch defender as his only main injury doubt ahead of the crucial encounter in his pre-match press conference.
Hoedt has been a regular in starting line-ups this season but has come in for some criticism after making errors in some of the games he has played.
About the injury complaint, Hughes said:
"“We’ve got a little bit of a doubt over Wesley Hoedt. He’s got an infection is his foot which just needs to calm down a little bit. At the moment he’s a little bit sore and he didn’t train today.”"
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The Welshman also mentioned midfielder Mario Lemina, who has suffered with tightness in his thigh. However, he added that it would be unlikely to keep him out of Saturday’s game.
With Hoedt looking like he will miss out, an opportunity could arise for another player to stake a claim for a regular starting role.
Jannik Vestergaard has remained on the bench since his last appearance against Wolves back in September, whilst Maya Yoshida or Jan Bednarek could also fill in at Centre-Back after not getting too much game time so far this campaign and being limited to appearances in the Carabao Cup.
All three will be encouraged by the form that Jack Stephens has shown since coming back into the team though.
The Saints academy product started the season in the side for opening fixtures versus Burnley and Everton, but had to wait for his next chance against Bournemouth two months later.
Since returning though, he has looked confident and ready to take advantage of the chance he has been given.
Each of Vestergaard, Yoshida and Bednarek have individual qualities that Hughes will have to look at in order to decide who to bring in.
The former has great height and aerial ability, whilst the latter two have more pace and are unlikely to be sluggish off the mark against an opposing striker.
High performance levels are key from whoever comes into the side as Saints look to get back on track after just one win this season and a 6-1 drubbing at Man City last time out.