Mauricio Pellegrino has confirmed that virtually all of his squad is fit for the game against West Ham United, however his plans have hit a setback with Virgil Van Dijk set to miss the game with a bizarre stroke of bad luck.

Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino has confirmed that most of his squad are fit and raring to go against the Hammers.

Ryan Bertrand has recovered from the knock he sustained on the opening day of the season, the left back had to be substituted in the final minutes of the 0-0 draw with Swansea City last weekend, but suffered no long-term damage and is available to feature at St Mary’s again this Saturday.

Pellegrino also revealed the goalkeeper Alex McCarthy is fit again, having overcome a pre-season injury to feature in Monday night’s

Pellegrino said: “Ryan was training good, I think physically he is fit.

"Everybody is ok, even Alex McCarthy. He has been playing Monday night in the U23 game.

"It’s good news for us, because everybody is ready for this game."

However Pellegrino did not mention the fitness of want away star Virgil Van Dijk who after missing last weeks opener against Swansea with a serious virus was naturally looking forward to being in contention for the visit of the Hammers.

However he seems likely to miss the clash after a bizarre incident involving an empty envelope at his luxury home today.

After opening his post he accidentally knocked a discarded envelope from his kitchen table and although he tried to jump out of its way, as it floated to the ground he was powerless to act as the envelope slammed on to his foot.

Saints medical team is assessing the extent of the injury, however it is likely to keep him out of Saturday's game at St Mary's with Van Dijk said to be in great pain.

A source close to the club said

"Virgil was lucky, it was only a DL sized window envelope so lighter than a standard non window one, if it had been A5 or even A4 size it could have been much much worse and possibly kept him out for much longer."

By a strange coincidence several other star players from the Premier League are rumoured to be about to suffer equally serious injuries in the next 24 hours, on Mersyside emergency services are braced for Phillipe Coutinho to be admitted to A & E after a leaf lands on him forcing him out of Liverpool's game over the weekend, whilst Diego Costa is likely to be out of Chelsea's game after burning a finger stirring a hot beverage whilst visiting a branch of one of his coffee shops.

Photo: Action Images

bstokesaint added 00:11 - Aug 18 Poor old Virgil. Bet he was raring to get the shirt on as well..
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pingpongpete1 added 00:20 - Aug 18 tbh this is a good report but it fails to mention whether the envelope was stamped or not..... that extra weight makes all the difference.
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dcbovivet added 05:48 - Aug 18 And had it had a first class stamp on it then it would have been moving even faster making the impact worsel! Imagine if it had been an e mail with the speed they travel! Doesn't bear thinking about
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SaintNick added 08:46 - Aug 18 An ITK source on another website who is usually right about these things has said that the envelope was franked rather than having the extra weight of a stamp on it, whic as you say could have had catastrophic consequences. All we can do is thank our lucky stars that it was not a full envelope
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Chesham_Saint added 12:39 - Aug 18 Oh for the days of a full ketchup bottle ending a player's career. Or even a flymo....
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SaintBrock added 16:21 - Aug 18 In fact Pellegrino confirmed there is nothing wrong at all with vD, just that the 'situation of the player has not changed', i.e.' the guy's in a massive child sulk still and is refusing all efforts to get him to a have a make up cuddle.
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mesquitaman added 09:18 - Aug 19 all these reports are exaggerated , the truth is foot in mouth problema
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