Mauricio Pellegrino's decison to play a full side against Watford in the FA Cup had one downside, Ryan Bertrand limped off and is now doubtful to fae the Seagulls on Wednesday evening.

Ryan Bertrand looks very likely to be missing when Saints take on Brighton in what is a six pointer relegation clash.

The left back went down and stayed down with what appeared to be a hamstring pull, something he has suffered with before, but that perhaps may offer some hope, he clearly felt a twinge rather than a pull or tear and immobilised himself before he got the chance to make it far worse.

That could offer hope that it was nipped in the bud and he could be available, the reality though is that it is perhaps too soon after Saturday, a week and he may have been OK, but not four days.

The issue for Mauricio Pellegrino is what to do, strangely Saints let Bertrand's deputy Matt Targett go to Fulham on loan, leaving only Sam McQueen a player who has started only one Premier League game this season and a limited number of minutes as a substitute on another four occasions as back up.

Pellegrino could also opt to stick with how he finished the game on Saturday with Jeremy Pied filling in, although he is essentially right footed that would not be a problem defending, however it would limit our abilities to get down the line and cross the ball, Bertrand soing just that against Watford to set up the only goal of the game.

Sometimes adversity gels a team together, you would hope that this might be the case on Wednesday.

Photo: Action Images

perazi added 09:22 - Jan 29 RB will be a big loss - he has had a great season despite the precarious position Saints find themselves in. Pied would be ok left back, as long as Tadic or Boufal play ahead of him - I'm hoping both Tadic and Boufal start with Lemina, Romeu and Hojbjerg also running out. I suspect though that Pellegrino will start with Carillo up front and Ward-Prowse in that wide right role.

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Sanguin added 09:31 - Jan 29 This is terrible, we had our worst spell in the League when Bertrand and Soares were injured. Bertrand is consistently one of our best performers and being even marginally worse over the key games coming up could be costly.
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IanRC added 12:30 - Jan 29 A number of people on this website have been slagging off Ryan Bertrand. I didn't understand this as I agree he has been one of our best players this season. That said Sam McQueen has not let us down and we should have too much for Brighton hopefully even without Ryan.
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underweststand added 14:25 - Jan 29 Ryan B. adds another dimension to our defence /attack, so he's sorely missed when he doesn't play..but we survived without VvD for half-a-season last year. If there was ever a chance for Sam McQueen to prove himself - it has to be now. With Matt Targett already at Fulham we have no other choice. I'd try him at least, If Bertrand isn't 100% from his previous injury then pushing him to play on Wednesday could worsen the problem even more.

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