Southampton injury update: Michael Obafemi out for the season, Danny Ings unavailable for Fulham

Given how young and inexperienced Michael Obafemi is, few would have never thought the revelation that he would be injured for the rest of the season would be news we would all fear.

That, and, unsurprisingly, the fact Danny Ings remains injured and will miss the Fulham game per Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

This leaves Saints with a particularly toothless strikeforce with just Shane Long and Charlie Austin available.

“We gave Michael Obafemi a long time to recover and did not let him start the game because we knew it’s important for him to make a small step at first,” Hasenhuttl said in his pre-game press conference. “It’s a different thing training for two weeks and then playing a Premier League game, the intensity is so much higher.

”Losing Michael is a big blow, he is out now until the end of the season. We have a big problem because an 18 year old is not part of a team then we really have a problem. It’s not about putting more pressure on him, we have other options with the players we have.

”The worst part is for him; another big injury at this age when you are trying to get experience and want to play and make the next step in your development, it doesn’t help with your development. That’s what we are thinking about more. We will find other solutions on the pitch but for him it is a disaster.

”It doesn’t seem possible for Danny Ings to play; we must be careful with him because the risk is too high. He hasn’t been training with the team and we still have a big injury with Michael Obafemi so we know how dangerous it can be.

”With Danny, we won’t take any risks. Maybe he will be an option for Tottenham but if not, we will have a three week break to make sure and get him ready for the last games.”

However, Mario Lemina could be available for Wednesday night.

”Mario Lemina is training by himself in a controlled workload and we will have a look at him.”