Southampton head coach Russell Martin has confirmed that Paul Onachu will be assessed after his unfortunate injury in the loss against Liverpool, forcing him to end a rare EPL start abruptly, Nigeriasoccernet.com writes.
They lost narrowly to the league leaders, 2-3 in a nervy contest at the St Mary’s stadium.
With a string of changes after the international break, the trio of Ryan Manning, Joe Aribo and Cameron Archer dropped to the bench, replaced by Ryan Fraser, Dibling and Paul Onuachu, with the latter making his first Saints start in 18 months.
Easing well into the game, the Nigeria striker proved to be a handful for Konaté with the French man having problems with both front men. Onuachu, who had shown some nice touches, showed a turn of speed and was strong enough to hold off the defender, who subsequently joined Conor Bradley in the book for wrestling him to the ground.
Onuachu’s hold-up play had been impressive, so it was a blow to lose him to injury following a foul from Cody Gakpo six minutes into the second half, as Lesley Ugochukwu took his place and Dibling moved up to partner Armstrong. The Nigerian departed to a standing ovation.
“Paul being one, I thought he was great, so hopefully he’s not too bad. He said it feels ok at the moment, so we’ll assess that', Martin stated.
By Olaleye Oluwadamilola