Saints will be without Mario Lemina for the trip to Brighton on Sunday, a big blow but there is still Oriol Romeu !

Mauricio Pellegrino has confirmed that Mario Lemina will miss the clash with Brighton after picking up an ankle injury in training although there is no news about the seriousness of it or how longe he will be out.

"Mario Lemina is injured this week,"

"He is the only player we'll lose this week."

"Sofiane is one possibility from the start, in the last two or three games he is playing well, even from the bench.

"I am happy with that, I want to improve the competition in the squad. Sofiane is a young lad and this action can give him more confidence to be better."

This is bad news for Saints supporters, although it is only a set back and not a terminal blow for the team, Oriol Romeu will step up to the plate after taking a back seat in recent weeks to Lemina, some would say that Romeu has not been in the best of form, but with Lemina in the team alongside him his role changes and his job is to mop up and hold the centre to allow his colleague to press forward.

This has been vital but Romeu was in fine form last season and again this when Lemina was not playing, although we would all prefer him to be fit it is not the end of the world.

It also allows the manager to consider more attacking options including Boufal but also others.

This is a winnable game and it will perhaps force Pellegrino to play an attacking formation and it could pay dividends.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

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