Ralph Hasenhuttl has given an update on his injury list ahead of an important trip to Sheffield United on Saturday and there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

The Austrian currently has 7 First team players out of action through various injuries at the moment, 3 of them, Oriol Romeu (ankle), Michael Obafemi (muscle) and Will Smallbone (knee) will not return until next season, so of course will not feature in his plans.

A 4th Theo Walcott, is not far from a return, but is likely to come back after the International break on the weekend of the 27th March, meaning that he will be back in contention for the final 10 games of the season.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel for the remaining 3, Ibrahima Diallo has returned to training and if he comes through a full contact session before the weekend is likely to be able to play some part in the visit to South Yorkshire.

Kyle Walker Peters & Takumi Minamino have yet to return to the squad, but have stepped up their recovery's and should they, like Diallo get in a full contact session between now and Saturday, they too could play some part, although they would more likely be on the bench.

Ralph has a tough call to make, this weekend is a crucial one, a long awaited Premier League win if achieved against Sheffield United would see Saints on the cusp of banishing any relegation worries and able to go into the FA Cup Quarter Final at Bournemouth with confidence, but defeat would see us looking over our shoulders.

Ralph had this to say when asked about the situation :

"I am hopeful, yes,"

"Hopefully my medical department gives us a few more alternatives. Yeah, we are going to have a look.

"But anyway, I hope Moussa is not injured again because he had a hard tackle in the end."

So Ralph is hopeful and on that note, let's hope that his mention of Moussa Djenepo was just a precautionary note, Djenepo has taken a battering in the last couple of games and at Everton was the subject of some tough tackling, some foul play, others just hard and physical, but he does seem to have an ability to get up grit his teeth and carry on, a promising sign that he could start to prove his worth in the squad in the final third of the season.

Photo: Action Images

sandywelsh added 13:22 - Mar 3 Lets hope Walker Peters is fit to start he is the one player we miss most at present. Would also be good to see Diallo start to because this will allow Armstrong to return to his normal position. Forster must also start in goal and Redmond must start on the bench.
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IanRC added 14:27 - Mar 3 I think Djenepo has been one of our best, if not our best player in the last few games. Scandalous that he does not receive the same protection from referees that the ‘big team’ players do. Few supporters should be eating humble pie given comments on him previously.
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