Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - February 9, 2022, Southampton's Kyle Walker-Peters celebrates after the match.
Southampton correspondent Adam Blackmore of BBC Radio Solent has reacted to ‘another injury blow’ involving defender Kyle Walker-Peters.
The Lowdown: Hasenhuttl under pressure…
The Saints have started the 2022/23 Premier League campaign in fairly lacklustre fashion, having won just three out of their opening 11 league matches, with only Leicester City and Nottingham Forest conceding more goals among the division’s bottom seven.
Winning just once in their last six, a solid 1-0 victory away to in-form Bournemouth, Ralph Hasenhuttl has perhaps been handed a degree of hope from that game that Southampton can turn things around.
However, the Austrian is not helped by consistent injury issues. Valentino Livramento, Romeo Lavia and Armel Bella-Kotchap have all been sidelined recently, and if the south coast side are to mount a strong mid-season run, every available player will need to be in contention to feature.
The Latest: Blackmore gutted by Walker-Peters ‘blow’…
Southampton have been dealt another blow with Walker-Peters out for the foreseeable future, with BBC reporter Blackmore giving his verdict.
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He says that a ‘tough test’ against league leaders Arsenal today ‘just got tougher’ after the injury to the English right-back.
The journalist tweeted on Friday: “Another injury blow for #SaintsFc this morning with Kyle Walker-Peters suffering a hamstring injury, Ralph just confirmed. So that’s KWP, ABK, Lavia and Tino out – and AMN not available against Arsenal. A tough gig Sunday just got tougher.”
The Verdict: Major setback for Saints…
Walker-Peters is an absolutely crucial player for Hasenhuttl, having started every league match for Southampton this season whilst also completing their second-highest rate of successful take-ons per 90 (WhoScored).
The former Tottenham starlet will be a sore miss at full-back, and it will be interesting to see how the Saints shore up their right flank without his presence this afternoon.
It’s going to take some adjustment from the manager, given that he doesn’t have any natural right-backs available, or even anyone who could classify it as a backup position.
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