Southampton Manager Russell Martin confirmed he hopes injured Will Smallbone and Ghana winger Kamaldeen Sulemana will both be back for next weekend.
Speaking ahead of the visit of QPR to St Mary’s, the boss ruled out inclusions for that fixture but revealed the duo could be fit to face Sunderland next Saturday.
Smallbone, who is close to sealing a new contract at the club, was injured in the 4-4 draw with Norwich City two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Kamaldeen, who has not played since scoring twice against Liverpool on the final day of the Premier League season, has faced transfer uncertainty this summer.
Martin said: “Smallbone won’t be fit tomorrow, but he’ll be here and he’ll be ready for Sunderland.
“I’m really excited to try and get Kamaldeen back on the pitch as quickly as possible. We only saw him for literally two training sessions and he got injured.
“In one of them I nearly fell over when he was dribbling he was that quick – he’s an exciting talent.
“He’s not in the squad for tomorrow, but hopefully by next week we’ll have him in the squad for the Sunderland game, that’s the plan all being well.”
Kamaldeen could yet make a move away in the final week of the transfer window with fellow winger Nathan Tella also coming under bids from German side Bayer Leverkusen.
