Saints are waiting to discover the full extent of the ankle injury suffered by Mario Lemina which will keep him out of Sunday’s trip to Brighton.

The midfielder powerhouse, who has been superb since joining Saints from Juventus in the summer, suffered the problem in training this week.

Saints are still uncertain of how bad it is, but there is no chance he will be fit for the game at the Amex Stadium.

Mauricio Pellegrino said: “I don’t know (how long he is out for). We have to wait for the next week and hopefully he can come back as soon as possible.”

Lemina’s loss is a significant blow for Saints and leaves Pellegrino with a taxing selection dilemma.

He could opt to draft in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, or potentially drop back Steven Davis and bring in either Sofiane Boufal or Nathan Redmond in the wide left attacking role.

“He’s (Lemina) the profile of players I told before we didn’t have in the squad so we brought him,” added Pellegrino.

“I think we have the players to replace him.
“We have players with quality and most of them are ready to play, maybe in a different way because Mario is a guy who can cover a lot of distance.

“In this moment when we lose the ball and in the final third attacking our transition improves a lot with Mario on the pitch.

“Every single player has different qualities and can be different in some moments.”

Hojbjerg will be desperate for a chance in the team having failed to make a single appearance this season under Pellegrino.

If he doesn’t he may also feel that is a telling sign.