Yan Valery will not be available until the New Year, Ralph Hasenhuttl has confirmed.
The boss spoke to the media ahead of Southampton’s trip to Aston Villa at the weekend and delivered an update on the condition of his players.
Sofiane Boufal is a touch-and-go for Saturday’s game, while Kevin Danso and Moussa Djenepo will miss out.
Hasenhuttl also spoke about how Valery is recovering from an infection, and brought bad news as he confirmed that the 20-year-old is sidelined until 2020 at the very earliest.
Twitter:
Watch live as Ralph Hasenhüttl addresses the media ahead of #SaintsFC’s trip to #AVFC on Saturday: https://t.co/3DoAmZixPy (@SouthamptonFC)
Read Southampton’s verdict
Valery’s absence means that until January, Hasenhuttl has little choice but to play Cedric Soares at right-back.
The Portugal international has been in dismal form of late, and plenty of fans have been calling for his understudy to replace him in the starting line-up.
However, it seems there is no chance of Valery coming back into the side in the immediate future, and this leaves Saints weakened at the back with Cedric starting.
Hasenhuttl will be desperate to get another right-back through the door as soon as possible in January.
