Ryan Bertrand will be missing from the Saints line up for the season's opener against Watford on Saturday.

Saints will be missing Ryan Bertrand when they take on Watford at the weekend in the first competitive game of the season.

Claude Puel has confirmed that he will not have his left back available for the game and possibly several afterwards with a recurrence of the knee injury that kepy Bertrand out of the opening quarter of last season.

Speaking after the win over Athletic Bilbao Puel said.

No, he cannot play the next game, but with Targett and McQueen we have two players that can take his place,” Puel said.

“It’s not important, just something with his knee. He has the same thing as last year. It’s important at the beginning of the season to stay quiet and calm,” he added.

“There’s a lot of games for the future. It’s important to keep Ryan in good form.”

Pule has two options to provide a deputy for Bertrand, the first is of course Matt Targett who played in place of Bertrand last season and in various games after he returned or he could turn to Sam McQueen who has recently been converted to a left back only in this summer's programme under Puel.

Targett would be the obvious choice and has the experience now under his belt that he did not have a year ago, however the real issue could be one of pace, Puel's 4-4-2 system requires the full backs to get forward and up and down the flanks, this is not so much Targett's game, although he is a great crosser of the ball, he is not the fastest.

McQueen though being a converted winger dos have more of a box to box ability down the flanks and that means his style of play could suit Puel's system more than Targett's.

Both played in yesterday's friendly against Athletic Bilbao and in fairness both looked comfortable getting up and down the line, however the Premier League is a different kettle of fish and Puel has some hard thinking to do in the next few days.

Photo: Action Images

law101 added 10:03 - Aug 8 McQueen is not a premier league quality player. Let's use the academy but not for the sake of it.
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SonicBoom added 10:55 - Aug 8 We keep hearing it is a minor knock but Bertrand has played very little football. He was injured just before the Euros and sat out training sessions with England. Then he played against Slovakia and I believe returned to training with Saints. He's missed our friendlies and looks like missing several games at the start of the season. That sounds more serious than they are letting on.

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bstokesaint added 12:33 - Aug 8 I've got to say I agree with Law101. Sometimes it does feel like we are reverting to the Academy for the sake of it. I couldn't see whether McQueen is Premiership quality, but if he's been moulded into a new role I sincerely doubt he's anywhere near Bertrand's level. Also Targett looked very exposed when he first covered for Ryan. He'll need help on that side.
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