Saints are waiting to hear how serious the injury to Virgil Van Dijk is, after he was substituted at half time for the Dutch national side.

Virgil Van Dijk suffered a knee injury in the first half of his country's friendly against Wales in Cardiff and was taken off at half time presumably as a precaution.

However he has been ruled out of the Dutch's friendly against Germany on Tuesday and will return to Southampton for treatment.

Van Dijk is a vital component of the Saints defence and since his arrival has once again made it one of the tightest in the Premier League.

Saints do have plenty of options including Steven Caulker, but he has barely played so far this season amidst rumours of off the field issues.

Hopefully the problem will not be too severe and Van Dijk will be fit for the game against Stoke City on Saturday, but more importantly the trip to Manchester City and the visit of Liverpool in the Capital One Cup.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters