Ronald Koeman says he has sympathy with Artur Boruc ahead of the former Saints keeper’s St Mary’s return.

Boruc was left out of the Cherries side to play Liverpool in midweek after a hat-trick of errors as his side were thumped 5-1 by Tottenham.

Koeman was the manager who made the decision to first loan Boruc to Bournemouth and then release him for a permanent move down the south coast when his contract was running down after spending £10m on Fraser Forster.

The Saints boss says there are no hard feelings on his behalf over the parting of ways, and reiterated his belief that Boruc remains a good goalkeeper.

“No (regrets) because we make different decisions,” said Koeman.

“Artur was in his last season of contract and we signed Fraser as a new goalkeeper, and that was the reason for him to leave the club.

“He was part of the title last season of Bournemouth, he did a great job, and you know if goalkeepers make a mistake it’s a goal.

“They had the two games, Boruc was not playing against City and that goalkeeper (Federici) made a mistake.

“Mistakes by goalkeepers are goals normally and that makes it more difficult.”

Boruc will be waiting anxiously to see whether he will get a place in the Bournemouth side to face Saints at St Mary’s tomorrow, with Eddie Howe seemingly torn over which stopper to pick.

After making seven changes for the Capital One Cup victory over Aston Villa in midweek, Koeman is expected to switch back to his normal Premier League side.

Sadio Mane is available again after serving a one game ban, but Shane Long and Jay Rodriguez are still missing.

“At the moment he (Rodriguez) is still out, like Shane also not available for the weekend,” reported Koeman.

“He (Rodriguez) is trying to come back but he is still not in training with the rest of the players.

“We have good hope that starts next week.”

Of Long he added: “He’s progressing well but not good enough to be a part of the team for this weekend.”

With a combined tally of 14 goals to their names already this season, much will be expected of Mane and Graziano Pelle tomorrow but Koeman was understandably keen to share the praise.

“It’s not about one or two players,” he insisted.

“Of course they are important players because they are scoring goals.

“Mane is also a player who can do assists, with a lot of creation out of his movement.

“They are important but the rest of the team, the rest of the players, give them a chance to score and be important for the team.”