Southampton FC's start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign has not been the way they would have expected it to. Securing a single point against Ipswich on the back of a series of disappointing losses against Manchester United, Brentford, and Southampton, the club currently finds itself in the 18th position in the Premier League table.
While much can be said about the not much convincing performances of Russell Martin's side so far in the season, they have been deprived of some fate that should have gone their way. However, it feels that their fate hasn't turned much as manager Martin updated on the injury status of their 24-year-old prodigy, who is set to miss more games.
Injury Concerns Plague Southampton's Midfield
Will Smallbone, the club's Irish young prospect, who had been one of the consistent mainstays of the club as they headed back into the PL this season, is set to be out for 1-2 weeks more. Not to forget, after facing an injury on the international break, the midfielder hasn't been available since, causing the club much instability in the middle of the park.
Speaking on Smallbone's injury ahead of their important Bournemouth fixture, Martin said, ““He’s still out, so the team news will still be the same.”” Moreover, while mentioning the duration of his absence further, Martin exclaimed, ““He’ll be another week or two, maybe even the other side of the international break. We’ll do our very best for the Arsenal game, but for this one he’ll be out.””
From the perspective of the Saints club, the midfielder's injury absence against AFC Bournemouth, against which the club has had decent records overall, would surely be crucial. Moreover, with difficult games like the Arsenal one coming their way, they would want Smallbone to return soon to have their best squad available to fight for some points.
Another Blow for the Saints
Southampton manager, Russell Martin has confirmed that Kamaldeen Sulemana will miss their game against AFC Bournemouth later tonight. The Saints will be hosted at the Vitality Stadium with kick-off scheduled at 18:00GMT.
In a pre-game presser, Martin communicated this as the Ghana international continues to deal with an injury picked up in preseason. “We have no one coming back that we didn’t expect…Kamaldeen is still a bit away from being with us,” Martin said.
After making 18 appearances and scoring twice with an assist in the Championship last season, Sulemana is yet to play in the 2024/25 Premier League season following their return. Southampton will also miss out on the service of another long-term absentee, Will Smallbone, as he continues recovery from a hamstring injury.
Smallbone and Sulemana are being targeted to return after the international break in October. Southampton are without a win in five league outings ahead of their trip to Bournemouth.
A Setback for Republic of Ireland
Will Smallbone hasn’t played since the last international window, when he featured against England and Greece. Smallbone’s Southampton manager has given an update on the 24-year-old’s fitness ahead of the Saints’ Premier League trip to Bournemouth on Monday evening.
The Basingstoke-born player has not featured for the St Mary’s outfit since the last international window, when he started in both defeats to England and Greece. Prior to that he made three Premier League starts, against Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Brentford. Since he returned to club duty, he has sat out the games against Manchester United, Everton and Ipswich Town with a hamstring strain, while teammate Kamaldeen Sulemana has also missed out this season through injury.
Southampton boss Russell Martin has offered a glimmer of hope that Smallbone, who picked up the man of the match award in bizarre circumstances against Greece, might be fit in time for the weekend clash with Arsenal. However, Martin added that he might not be back in action this side of the upcoming international window, which would deal a blow to new boss Hallgrímsson, who is clearly a fan of the talented youngster.
The Saints' Missing Pieces
In a pre-game presser, Southampton manager Russell Martin communicated this as the Black Stars player continues to deal with an injury picked up in preseason. After appearing in only 18 games and scoring twice and adding an assist in the process, Sulemana is yet to play in the 2024-2025 season that marks Southampton’s return to the elite division after getting relegated following the 2022-2023 season.
Aside Sulemana, Southampton will miss out on the service of another long term absentee, Will Smallbone, as he continues recovery from a hamstring injury. “We have no one coming back that we didn’t expect…Kamaldeen is still a bit away from being with us” Martin said. Smallbone and Sulemana are being targeted to return after the international break in October. Southampton are without a win in five league outings ahead of their trip to Bournemouth.
A Blow to the Saints' Hopes
Southampton have been dealt with a further blow to their slow Premier League start ahead of Monday's clash away at Bournemouth with Will Smallbone out of action for the trip across the south coast.
Saints have picked up just one point from their first five games upon their return to the top-flight, conceding a late equaliser against Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon to maintain their winless start to the season - and with tough fixtures away at Arsenal and Manchester City on the horizon, a win is imperative against the Cherries, who have made a decent start to the campaign with five wins. But their chances may be stunted with Smallbone being out injured, with the creative midfielder still being out with a hamstring injury picked up last month.
Smallbone was injured in September, with his last game for Southampton coming at the end of August in the 3-1 loss at Brentford after being replaced by Mateus Fernandes at half-time in the clash in London. It was thought that the Republic of Ireland international would be out until the end of the month, where he would return against Bournemouth. But ahead of the clash, Saints boss Russell Martin has stated that Smallbone is still out on the sidelines with a hamstring injury - and that he will miss the south coast derby clash. He said: “[Will] Is still out for another week or two. Maybe on the other side of the international break or maybe the Arsenal game, but this week, no.”
With the injury healing process being delayed, that could be a huge detriment to potential results - not only against Andoni Iraola's men, but with Smallbone - who has been labelled as an 'absolute star' by his manager - also potentially missing the trip to Arsenal at the start of next month.
Smallbone's Importance to the Saints
Smallbone featured in Southampton's opening two games, and started against Brentford before being hooked - as well as Ireland's home fixtures in the Nations League against England and Greece, both resulting in 2-0 home losses. Though he's yet to see a win in any competition this season, the 24-year-old played a key part in Southampton's play-off win last season as he notched six goals and three assists from midfield in the Championship, before stepping up to the plate by scoring in the 3-0 win over West Brom in the play-off semi finals and registering the assist for Adam Armstrong's winner at Wembley against Leeds United.
There is a clear reason as to why Martin has called him a 'real star', and having made 73 appearances for the Saints throughout his career, he will be hoping to kick on again once he's back from injury to help Saints stay in the league. Southampton were one of the favourites to go down and without one of their best midfielders, it could be tough for them to garner a point at the Vitality Stadium - though with a favourable set of fixtures coming in November, his return could coincide with a decent run of form that would see the club have more than a fighting chance of staying in the top-flight.
