Ralph Hasenhuttl has explained why Saints supporters have not seen any sign of Mohamed Salisu in the matchday squad yet, but he has confirmed that the defender won't play any part against Everton.

Speaking ahead of this week fixture against the Toffee's, Ralph Hasenhuttl has explained that Mohammed Salisu arrived at the club with an injury picked up in Spain in July that kept him out of the final games for Real Valladolid at the tail end of the restart.

Questions were being asked as to why Ibrahima Diallo was fit to play but not Salisu, here what Ralph had to say.

“One was physically fit and the other one was not. That’s why it takes a little bit longer for the other one," he explained as he confirmed that Salisu arrived carrying an injury from the 2019-20 season."

“There are some bigger issues that we had with him. These issues will last a little bit longer."

"It’s an older thing, for this we will have to take care of him but he is coming back."

"It maybe takes one more week and then he is able to play."

"We gave him all the time he needed to solve these issues. We knew it wasn’t a short-term project, it was a long-term project."

"He is a good guy and I am sure that he will help us in the future,"

This helps clear up the reason why Salisu has not even appeared for the B squad so far, but it is still strange that the player has not been interviewed or featured on the Club's website or why this injury wasn't mentioned a lot earlier to set fans expectations.

I have no problems with Salisu being injured when he arrived, players get injured and if that happens in a transfer window, a club can't just not sign him and hope that they can get him in the next one, sometimes they have to take a calculated gambe.

This one has been made worse due to the lack of pre season training and that means the club have to be careful to ensure that they don't rush Salisu and create a longer term issue.

Photo: Action Images

ChristchurchSaint added 13:35 - Oct 24 Nick, maybe the reason why he hasn’t been interviewed is that his English is still quite poor. If you went to a foreign country, unable to speak the language, would you be happy facing the media after a few weeks, knowing that any slight slip , or misinterpreted phrase would be jumped upon immediately by some underhand journo, who would delight in plastering across the headlines of the local rag. We all saw Poch avoid speaking English, probably because he knew what would happen. Ralph has been honest and admitted Salish was injured. He is not in desperate need currently to bring him in, but almost certainly wouldn’t say that his English is too poor to speak to anyone!

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IWOZTHERE added 16:07 - Oct 24 Supporters are bound to be sceptical after the Danso situation? I hope his vision and awareness belies his years. We need that!
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WestSussexSaint added 21:06 - Oct 24 It sounds like he is being wrapped in cotton wool. Whether that is solely due to the injury or the fact he is a young player in a new country and his confidence maybe a bit low I don’t know. Saints have seen something in the lad which makes them think that he is worth the investment and if he is managed carefully they hope to get the benefit of that investment.

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