Sourced from Daily Echo article
Saints facing anxious wait over Bertrand injury
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SAINTS are facing an anxious wait to find out the extent of Ryan Bertrand’s hamstring injury.
The left back went off after only 19 minutes of England’s World Cup qualifying victory over Malta at Wembley at the weekend.
It left interim boss Gareth Southgate, already without Bertrand’s St Mary’s predecessor Luke Shaw due to injury, bemoaning a “remarkable” spate of injuries.
Bertrand only started as Tottenham’s Danny Rose had been rested due to a tight hamstring, but the latter replaced Bertrand and completed the rest of the game.
Southgate quickly called up Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs for tomorrow’s trip to Slovenia after it quickly became obvious Bertrand would not be fit enough to travel.
But Saints boss Claude Puel will be more concerned as to how long his first choice left back will be out for.
Bertrand will almost certainly miss next Sunday’s home clash with Burnley - players who suffer hamstring injuries very rarely play a week later.
After that, Bertrand could also be a doubt for the following Thursday’s glamour Europa League trip to Inter Milan and the daunting Premier League game at table-topping Manchester City three days later.
Young Matt Targett will almost certainly come in for Bertrand, as the 21-year-old played the first three league games of 2016/17 when the ex-Chelsea man was sidelined with a knee injury.
That’s if Targett is fit enough.
After all, he wasn’t fit to travel to Kazakhstan with the England Under-21 squad for last Thursday’s win which clinched his country’s place at next summer’s European Championships.
Targett was expected to be fit enough to rejoin the England squad for tomorrow’s game against Bosnia at Walsall.
Puel will be hoping Targett has totally recovered from his own injury, as after him there is little experienced cover at left back.
The Saints boss resorted to playing midfielder Sam McQueen in that position in some of the club’s pre-season friendlies.
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