JAMES BEATTIE faces a race against time to recover from a hideous foot injury to play in Saturday's sell-out AXA FA Cup clash at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

It has been revealed that the in-form striker severed a vein in his right foot during Saturday's goalless draw at Tottenham.

Beattie (pictured) had a cup of blood drained from his foot during half-time following a stamp by Gary Doherty.

He had an injection before the second half and ended up in the wars again when another collision with Doherty knocked him unconscious.

That left him with a black eye but it is the foot injury which is causing most concern now.

It's touch and go whether he'll recover in time for Saturday and Saints boss Glenn Hoddle may decide not to risk his leading scorer with a Premiership match at home to Leicester just four days later.

Beattie said: "I'll see what the boss wants to do and how it's feeling nearer the time.

"It was horrible. It was all black, like a dead person's foot. It's been very swollen this week but I can get a boot on again now.

"They drained a lot of blood off it and I needed a local anaesthetic to get through the second half, although I can't remember much about it as I was knocked out cold."

New signing Dan Petrescu is back in training after recovering from a virus but will miss Saturday's clash against his old club because he is cup-tied.

But Matthew Le Tissier has suffered another setback on the recovery trail after almost three months out with a recurring knee problem.

Le Tissier has tweaked a hamstring in training but Hoddle believes it is not serious.

He said: "It should mean no more than two or three days off and hopefully he will be back in training at the start of next week.

"He just has to keep his spirits up, work hard and get through his rehabilitation."