Southampton are likely to be without a number of regular first-team starters ahead of Friday night's meeting with Newcastle United at St Mary's, including influential striker Danny Ings.
The manager confirmed that the damage suffered to Saints' top scorer was significant enough to warrant a "small surgery", but importantly wasn't a reoccurrence of an old knee problem, which could have seen him out for a much longer period.
As it stands, Ings is looking at a 4-6 week stay on the sidelines, while there are also concerns over Ryan Bertrand (hamstring), Jan Bednarek (neck) and Ibrahima Diallo (dead leg), following a fierce meeting with Aston Villa a week ago.
Ralph Hasenhüttl began by asserting: "We have a lot of injury concerns at the moment. The last game was a tough one. Also sometimes beyond the edge, in terms of what is okay for me. A few brutal tackles that were tough to get a handle on.
"We have payed a high price for that. It causes me a real headache to be honest, because five players have issues now."
Speaking specifically about individual player concerns, he added: "Jan Bednarek may train today, it was a horrible crash on the ground. Ryan Bertrand is likely to be out for the weekend. Diallo has a dead leg from a hard kick.
"The worst thing is maybe Danny Ings. We said after the game that we hoped it wasn't bad.
"It could have been much worse, but at the moment he's out for maybe 4-6 weeks. He'll have a small surgery tomorrow. He's definitely out for now. It's a small surgery but a necessary one."
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