Southampton legend Francis Benali believes the Saints will miss Takumi Minamino during their FA Cup semi-final clash with Leicester City.

Benali believes Saints will miss Minamino

The Saints travel to Wembley on Sunday to face the Foxes for a place in the cup final - Chelsea booked their place in the showpiece with a 1-0 victory over Manchester City on Saturday.

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Benali believes the Saints will miss Minamino, who is ineligible to play in the competition after previously featuring in it for Liverpool prior to his loan move to St Mary's Stadium. The 52-year-old said:

"He's had an impact, a big impact coming in.

"His goal against Chelsea was just incredible. The finish, the timing of the run, his touch, the way he sat everybody down before calmly slotting it home was fabulous and he scored on his debut against Newcastle as well. He'll be a loss not being able to figure."

Blow

There is no doubt that the absence of Minamino will be a blow to Ralph Hasenhuttl's side. With two goals in six Premier League games since making the switch from Anfield (Transfermarkt), he has proven his worth on the south coast, and his ability would have come in handy against a Leicester side who are third in the league table as it stands.

However, while the Saints had not progressed to this stage by the time the £10.8m-valued Japan international made the short-term switch to St Mary's, they will have been aware that they would be without him for the remainder of the competition. They have managed to make it this far without his services, so there is no reason why they can't go one step further.

In other news, this Southampton player has been urged to leave the club.