Saints suffer Stephens injury blow

The defender had played every minute for Saints in all competitions this season until he hobbled off in the first half of Saturday’s goalless draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Hasenhüttl tonight handed a debut to another centre-back, summer signing Lyanco, with Stephens now set to be sidelined until December.

“We have now with Jack Stephens a player who is long out, 10 to 12 weeks maybe, so we need every centre-back,” the boss said.

“A long-term injury is always a blow to us. The tendon on the knee is disrupted, so it’s a tendon injury. It takes, I don’t know how long, but it will take time.”