Southampton star Djenepo ruled out of Chelsea clash with hamstring injury

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The Malian winger suffered the injury in the Saints’ triumph over West Bromwich Albion and will be unavailable against the Blues on Saturday

Moussa Djenepo will miss Southampton’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday due to a hamstring injury.

The Mali international was substituted in the second half of the Saints’ 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on October 4.

Before he was replaced by Nathan Redmond, Djenepo had scored the opener for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men as they cruised to their second Premier League win of the 2020-21 campaign.

Despite the injury setback, he was part of the Eagles’ squad that defeated Ghana 3-0 in a recent international friendly, albeit, as an unused substitute.

“He had a problem with his hamstring in the first half [against West Brom] – he even scored with this problem,” Hasenhuttl told club website. “It was at the beginning of the game.“When we see the scans now, it’s definitely an injury, and this is the biggest problem for Moussa all the time.“This is something we have to work on with him, because he has some physical deficiencies.

“There is always a push back every time he makes a step into the team, and this is a problem for us.”

Southampton boss also revealed he could hand deadline-day signing Theo Walcott against Frank Lampard’s men, while offering an update on France youth international of Senegalese descent Ibrahima Diallo who joined his team from Brest.

“With all the injuries we have in the number 10 position, with Stuey out and Moussa out, Theo has more chance to play on the weekend,” he continued.“With Ibrahima it’s a bit more difficult. He was not here for the whole week – just one session yesterday [Wednesday], so we are just starting work with him, which may take a little bit longer.”

After the trip to Stamford Bridge, they also have a crunch tie against red-hot Everton at home before heading to Aston Villa, with Djenepo’s presence a potential deciding factor in both fixtures.

The winger moved to England from Standard Liege on 13 June 2019, having penned a four-year contract with the English topflight side for a reported fee of £14 million. His first goal came on August 2019 as the Saints secured a 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.

2020-10-15 18:00:03

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