Southampton will look at the fitness of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg before they travel for Saturday’s Premier League match against Liverpool. The Danish player returned from international duty earlier than expected, after picking up a small injury.

The club’s medical team will also be keeping a close eye on Fraser Forster’s current condition after he had to pull out of the England squad with a minor injury last week.

No end to the drama

But that isn’t the end of Saints problems as Ryan Bertrand was left out of training with the Three Lions recently and is a doubt for tonight’s friendly against Spain at Wembley.

Caretaker manager, Gareth Southgate, said: “Both [Wayne Rooney and Bertrand] are being assessed, they had minor issues this morning, so we'll have a look at them as the day goes on.”

Both players were nowhere near enough ready to “train today” so they are a “doubt” but will be “looked at later.”

However, Claude Puel will be anxious that the trio will be ready to face current league leaders Liverpool, while at the same time will have everything crossed that his international stars will come back to domestic league duty unscathed.

Bertrand may not be fit for this weekend. Photo: Getty/
Bertrand may not be fit for this weekend. Photo: Getty/ Michael Regan

Still to play 

Five Saints players will be in action today starting with Dusan Tadic who sustained a nasty looking nose injury during Serbia’s match against Wales on Saturday.

Maya Yoshida lined up against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup qualifier earlier today, while Steven Davis will captain Northern Ireland against Croatia in a friendly at Windsor Park.

Looking at the youngsters of the squad, James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond both came off the bench in last night’s England under-21’s 3-2 friendly defeat away to France.

The Saints pair were substituted on during the second half, but they couldn’t help prevent the Young Lions from suffering their first loss in 16 games.

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About the author
Jess Cowie
Sports journalism at Chester University