Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has today confirmed that Matt Targett and Steven Davis will both return to the squad for this week’s game against Swansea City after injury.
Short time out
The Northern Ireland skipper hasn't been out for that long, but he did miss the two away trips to Old Trafford and the Emirates as well as the home win against West Ham United, where his side picked up seven points.
He last appeared for the Saints in the 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion in the middle of January. Davis has been present for all the training sessions this week and is available for selection for this weekend.
As for Targett, he only missed the one game and that came last weekend against West Ham and he has been training well all week. He is expected to come back into the team for Maya Yoshida.
"Steven Davis is back,” Koeman told the Official Southampton website. The Dutchman knows that he is ready and it will not be a risk for selection, “He's back in the team, he did a good week of sessions in training and no other updates."
More injury news, but positive Rodriguez developments
There are three players who will remain unavailable for the trip to Swansea. “Still Jay Rodriguez is out, Florin [Gardos] is out. Victor [Wanyama] we know is suspended and the rest of the players are available," Koeman added.
The boss also said that he has hope that it will only be a couple of weeks until the forward will make a return to the club's full training sessions after having another setback. "He's closer, but maybe next week or the week after that he will be part of the team session,” said the Saints boss. “That's the next step."
Koeman wants the player back needs remain calm and not rush the forward into action too quickly. “It takes a long time, he needs to be patient," he commented. "It's not easy always to be patient, but we know his situation and we have the total confidence that he will come back like before.”