RALPH Hasenhuttl is hopeful Romeo Lavia could make his much anticipated return from injury at Crystal Palace this weekend.

The 18-year-old made a stellar start to life on the south coast, following his summer switch from Manchester City.

The midfielder instantly earned a spot in Hasenhuttl's starting XI, before being withdrawn with a hamstring injury after scoring in August's victory over Chelsea.

Lavia has not featured since, but is edging closer to a return, with Saints travelling to Selhurst Park in the Premier League on Saturday (3pm).

Looking ahead to the fixture, boss Hasenhuttl said: "We are hoping some players are coming back from injuries.

"Romeo was today for the first time in the session and it was a pleasure to see him playing.

"Would like to have him in the squad for the weekend, but I think I don't have the okay so far from the physios. So we have to wait.

"But it's normal. Because he was out for so long and now he is the first day in the sessions, so there must be attention. But it is good to see immediately his quality on the pitch, which is what is fantastic to watch."

He added: "We had some problems with injuries in the beginning of the season which cost us some points, I think. Especially the injury of Romeo.

"We were on a very good run and struggled then afterwards. You can see why, because when you see him today on the pitch you know what quality he has and what quality he can bring to you."

Hasenhuttl also provided an update on centre-back Armel Bella-Kotchap, who dislocated his shoulder during the draw with West Ham United on October 16.

There was a suggestion he may undergo surgery to try and repair the problem as a more longer-term fix, but it appears that idea has been parked for now.

"With Armel, it looks good," said Hasenhuttl.

"It can be that he starts to train next week with the team. He wants to try it from next week on I think.

"He could be an option for the Newcastle game (on November 6) maybe."

There was however one piece of disappointing injury news, with Kyle Walker-Peters unlikely to return to action before the World Cup break, due to the hamstring problem suffered during victory at Bournemouth last week.

Hasenhuttl said: "With Kyle it is not that good, I think.

"It can be that he doesn't make it to the last game (before the break) against Liverpool (on November 12).

"We will see if this is possible or not. Low chance, I think.

"Then we have only Tino (Livramento) as a long-term injury, which we have to wait for."

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