CENTRE-BACK Armel Bella-Kotchap is set for further testing on the hamstring injury he suffered in Monday night’s 4-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest, according to Saints boss Ruben Selles.

With his side trailing 2-1 in the first half, Bella-Kotchap was forced into a foot-race on Saints’ left flank and after Brennan Johnson burst past him, the German went down clutching his hamstring.

Bella-Kotchap immediately called for medical attention and was replaced by Lyanco moments later.

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Following the defeat, Bella-Kotchap was spotted leaving the City Ground on crutches which certainly places doubt on his chances of appearing again for Saints this season.

But Selles was unwilling to speculate on the injury, saying: "We need to check. He had a hamstring problem and we'll check it tomorrow."

It’s been a mixed personal campaign for Bella-Kotchap who saw his early season form rewarded with a call-up to the German squad for the World Cup in Qatar. But a spate of injuries - shoulder, knee, and now hamstring - have cost him consistency and seen him face multiple spells on the sidelines.

If Monday’s 24th appearance of the Premier League season is Bella-Kotchap’s last of the term, it will be a disappointing way to end the campaign as he struggled against Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi, getting outmuscled in the box for the Nigerian’s second goal of the night.

Saints fought back from 2-0 down thanks to Charly Alcaraz’s fourth goal since joining the club in January but a Morgan Gibbs-White penalty on the stroke of half-time gave Selles’s side a mountain to climb after the break.

And while Lyanco gave them a lifeline, Danilo’s strike with just over 15 minutes left to play all-but finished the contest. 

James Ward-Prowse did make it 4-3 deep into stoppage time with a penalty of his own but it was much too little too late as Saints fell to eight points adrift of safety with three games left to play.