Southamptonvs.Newcastle

The Saints will be without their highly-rated youngster Tyler Dibling, as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury, while Ross Stewart, Gavin Bazunu and Jack Stephens are also out for the hosts due to injury.

Juric also revealed that goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale is a doubt for this clash due to a torso injury, while Kamaldeen Sulemana has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury.

Since replacing Russell Martin in December, new Saints boss Juric has failed to win any of his league matches in charge, but they did triumph against Swansea City in the FA Cup.

The performances have improved slightly under Juric, but unfortunately for the hosts, the results in the league have not picked up yet.

Since taking over, he has added three players in the transfer market in an attempt to improve the club's fortunes, including Welington from Sao Paulo and Joachim Kayi Sanda.

Neither of those have featured in the first team yet, with the latter in particular being viewed as a signing for the future.

Their latest recruit is Danish international midfielder Albert Gronbaek, who has signed on loan from Rennes for the rest of the season.

Gronbaek could potentially be involved in the squad for this weekend's clash with Newcastle, but given he has only just arrived at the club, a place on the bench may be more likely for this match.

Southampton lost 3-2 at Nottingham Forest last weekend, as they fell three goals behind before attempting to stage a late comeback at the City Ground.

Despite the defeat, Juric is likely to go with a similar team to the one that lost in Nottingham time out.

If Ramsdale is deemed not fit enough to play, then Alex McCarthy could start in goal, while James Bree, Jan Bednarek and Taylor Harwood-Bellis are all likely to retain their places in the defence.

Ryan Manning replaced Yukinari Sugawara during the Forest match, and the Republic of Ireland international could get a start on the left-hand side of defence for the Saints, with Kyle Walker-Peters starting on the right.

Flynn Downes, Joe Aribo and Mateus Fernandes are also expected to start, but Juric may be tempted to reward Paul Onuachu with a start ahead of Adam Armstrong this weekend.

Southampton possible starting lineup:

Ramsdale; Walker-Peters, Bree, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Manning; Downes, Fernandes, Aribo; Archer, Onuachu

Written by

Tom Humphrey