Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has delivered an update on the condition of Mario Lemina.
The Gabon international was forced to sit out of the Saints’ home win against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon as a consequence of a stomach injury.
Hasenhuttl explained the midfielder’s exclusion from the matchday squad as he reflected on the team’s 3-2 win against the Gunners at St Mary’s Stadium.
As quoted by Injury Data Analyst, Ben Dinnery, via Twitter, the Austrian boss confirmed that the former Juventus star is nursing a knock.
He said:
Hopefully, [it is] not too serious. It’s about his stomach, it hurt him too much. If you can’t sprint 100 per cent, it’s better to say ‘no it doesn’t work’ and we have to put in someone else.
Lemina has been a key player for Southampton this season and started in Hasenhuttl’s first game in charge at Cardiff City last weekend.
In the outing against Arsenal, the new Saints manager opted to utilise a central midfield pairing of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oriol Romeu with Stuart Armstrong just ahead.
As the team now begin to gear up for a crucial match against Huddersfield Town in the Premier League, though, Hasenhuttl will be desperate to have Lemina fit and at his disposal.
