Jason Dodd looks likely to miss the home game against Tottenham following surgery on his troublesome knee.

The Saints skipper goes under the knife today in a bid to cure the problem which has dogged him for much of the season.

Manager Dave Jones explained: "They are going to open it up and take a look to see what the problem is. Hopefully it will just be a clean-out job.

"It has affected him a lot this season. He has tried to play on but in the end it needed doing, and this seemed as good a time as any with the break for internationals.

"It will probably put him out of the Spurs game. Hopefully that would be the only one he misses."

Dodd has been getting by on pain killers in the latter half of the week and hoped to be able to play through. But he finally conceded defeat and said: "I just hope this clears up the problem.

"I have tried to get through it by having treatment in the early part of the week and then having tablets to get me ready for games.

"But that only masks the problem, it does not cure it. It has been getting worse so in the end the only answer was to have surgery and hopefully by doing it now I will only miss one game at most."

If Dodd does not recover in time to face Spurs it will give a chance to Scott Hiley who faces Tottenham tonight in an FA Premier Reserve League game at St Albans.

Also playing tonight are first-team squad regulars Matthew Le Tissier and Chris Marsden. The pair have been out of favour in recent weeks and Jones wants them to have match practice to keep them sharp.

Saints Res: Moss, Hiley, Monk, Collins, Bridge, Gibbens, Howells, Marsden, Ashford, Rodrigues, Le Tissier. Subs: to be announced.

Saints have denied reports they are poised to sign Argentinian striker Rafael Maceratesi from Rosario Central.

The club's own web site reported that sources in South America claimed a £900,000 deal had been set up to bring the player to The Dell by the end of the year but Jones said: "It's news to me!

"He may be one of the many that Terry Cooper has looked at but there is certainly nothing in the pipeline. I've never heard of him - despite what it says on our web site!"

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