Southampton: Important injury news for Saints ahead of Brighton clash
By Marc Walker
Southampton have received a boost ahead of their Premier League clash with Brighton this Saturday with the return of a key man in attack.
After around two months out with a hamstring injury, striker Danny Ings is set to come back into Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad for the meeting with their rivals at the bottom of the table.
With just eight league matches left of the season to secure survival, this could prove to be a real positive for Saints.
In his pre-match press conference today, Hasenhuttl said:
"“He trained now for two weeks with the first-team. Last week we had the friendly with QPR and he played 45 minutes without any problems. We will see if he is an option for the starting 11, but I’m happy that he is back in training.”"
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Despite missing around 11 Premier League games with fitness issues, Ings has been a bright spark upfront whenever he has had a lengthy run in the team.
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His eight goals in all competitions see him as the club’s highest scoring forward this campaign and he will be hoping that fitness issues don’t disrupt him anymore after he joins permanently from Liverpool in the summer.
Both Charlie Austin and Shane Long have found it difficult to have the same impact on the side recently.
Austin doesn’t seem to suit Hasenhuttl’s pressing style, whilst Long does have the pace to worry defenders but not a clinical finish.
Ings seems to bring the ability to finish and pace in one player and glimpses of his underrated abilities in front of goal have been seen on occasion this season.
Perhaps the best example is the brace that he scored against Arsenal in the 3-2 win at St Mary’s.
The 26-year-old’s movement and brilliantly taken goals helped put Saints in a strong position to go on and get a crucial three points in front of their home crowd.
Injuries remains a problem for him and the club may well add another striker in the summer to fill the void left by Ings when he is out, but he could well prove to be a valuable addition in the future.