Saints midfielder Mark Draper has admitted his frustration after undergoing an ankle operation that will keep him out of action for another month.

The 32-year-old midfielder, who was signed by Glenn Hoddle for £1.25m in July 2000, has managed just 16 Premiership starts during his time with Saints and has yet to play a first team game under Gordon Strachan.

Draper, who still has 18 months left to run on his current contract, has been dogged by injury during his time with Saints and this latest setback will scupper any possible loan moves to regain his match sharpness.

He said: "It is just one of those things.

"It is nothing major but it is very frustrating coming on top of the other problems I have had.

"I have been having trouble with it since the summer and it was getting worse so I went to see a specialist and he removed a bit of bone and gave it a clean-out.

"He reckons it will be three or four weeks before I can start training again, which is slightly less than he originally predicted.

"It has been stop-start for me almost since I got here. It has been a frustrating time.

"I had a knee operation a year ago which put me out for three months and that effectively wrote off much of the season.

"I had a couple of injury-free months at the end of the campaign and then got hurt in a pre-season friendly at Exeter so I have not really had much chance to show the gaffer what I can do."

He added: "The gaffer has been fine with me. I have had a chat but I am not thinking too much about the future right now. My priority is to get myself fit and playing.

"Every time I try and look ahead, something else happens. If I can get myself 100 per cent and back in action then I can make a definite decision."

The Saints reserve team match at Arsenal that was postponed due to floodlight failure on Monday night will now be played on Monday, January 27 (7pm).

Saints under-19s have reversed this Saturday's game against Chelsea, which was due to be played at Staplewood.

It means the away fixture at Chelsea will now be a home game on January 25.

The Under 17's still host West Ham on Saturday morning at Staplewood (11am).