By admin 
Southampton have been dealt with a further blow to their slow Premier League start ahead of Monday’s clash away at Bournemouth with Will Smallbone out of action for the trip across the south coast.
Saints have picked up just one point from their first five games upon their return to the top-flight, conceding a late equaliser against Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon to maintain their winless start to the season – and with tough fixtures away at Arsenal and Manchester City on the horizon, a win is imperative against the Cherries, who have made a decent start to the campaign with five wins. But their chances may be stunted with Smallbone being out injured, with the creative midfielder still being out with a hamstring injury picked up last month.
Will Smallbone Out For Bournemouth Clash
The Saints will be without their homegrown midfielder
Smallbone was injured at the end of August in the 3-1 loss at Brentford, being replaced by Mateus Fernandes at half-time in the clash in London, and it was thought that the Republic of Ireland international would be out until the end of the month, when he could return against Bournemouth. But ahead of the clash, Saints boss Russell Martin has stated that Smallbone is still out on the sidelines with a hamstring injury – and that he will miss the south coast derby clash. He said:
“[Will] Is still out for another week or two. Maybe on the other side of the international break or maybe the Arsenal game, but this week, no.”
With the injury healing process being delayed, that could be a huge detriment to potential results – not only against Andoni Iraola’s men, but with Smallbone – who has been labelled as an ‘absolute star’ by his manager – also potentially missing the trip to Arsenal at the start of next month.