The injury problems are mounting up for Ralph Hasenhuttl ahead of the game against Aston Villa with the club considering asking supporters to bring their boots on Saturday in case they get any more knocks.
Kyle Walker Peters made a promising debut last Saturday but it has all been a bit much for him and he is now likely to miss the game against Aston Villa with a calf injury after his first competitive game in 2 1/2 months.
He hasn't trained all week and with Cedric out on loan it is likely that his place will be taken by the returning Yan Valery who has been training with no reactions and has got some U23 action under his belt.
Commenting on Walker-Peters Ralph said:
"I think everybody could see that on the ball he has quality.
"Against the ball, there is still a lot to be done. But the problem is that he is also injured and cannot play at the weekend. He’s definitely out.
"This doesn’t make it any easier, but Yan Valery is training well.
"Kyle showed he can be a good option for us with the ball but against the ball, we must learn with him.
"When he’s back we will do this.”
Expanding on when the loan player will return to training, Hasenhuttl added: "It’s not that bad but he couldn’t train this week, hopefully, he is back next week.”
The Saints' manager also confirmed that he will be without attacking options with both Nathan Redmond and Sofiane Boufal set to be missing.
Redmond who was again showing some great form of late picked up the injury the day before the game against Burnley and played no part but the actual injury has been a mystery with Saints saying little.
That may concern Saints supporters who remember a similar wall of silence from the club three years ago when Virgil Van Dijk injured his achilles after a savage tackle by Jamie Vardy, then there was nothing from the club and although speculation said he would return sooner than later, he never played again that season.
Boufal started in place of Redmond last week but had to limp off himslef in the second half.
"So far, as I’ve said, Reddy is out but we still don’t know for how long. It will be a minimum of one month," explained Hasenhuttl.
"It’s the worst injury.
"Then we have Sofiane who hasn’t trained this week but is a little bit ahead of the schedule but would be tough for the weekend.
"He has problems with his heel and foot. I think it’s possible for him to start [training] next week.”
So injury issues in vital areas for Saints and a few selection headaches for Ralph, perhaps this will be a time when some of the fringe players will step up and play a crucial role in a game that could either see us staring safety in the face come 5pm or looking nervously over our shoulders.