Oriol Romeu in line for Southampton return following ankle surgery

Posted Monday, May 17, 2021 by PA

Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu could make a return to the squad after recovering from ankle surgery for the Premier League match against Leeds on Tuesday night.

Defender Jan Bednarek (heel) missed the win over Fulham, but will be available again, while forward Danny Ings was taken off after an hour as a precautionary measure to manage his own return to full fitness.

Full-back Ryan Bertrand, set to leave the club at the end of the season, remains sidelined with a calf injury, along with midfielder Will Smallbone (knee).

Leeds will be without defender Robin Koch and midfielder Mateusz Klich for the trip to St Mary’s Stadium.

Koch is carrying a minor hip complaint and while Klich has no injury concerns, Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa has granted the pair early leave to boost their hopes of featuring in this summer’s European Championship.

Pablo Hernandez could return while Liam Cooper was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Burnley, having missed the preceding four games through suspension and a glute injury.

Southampton provisional squad: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Stephens, Ward-Prowse, Redmond, Armstrong, Minamino, Ings, Adams, Forster, Djenepo, Salisu, Diallo, Obafemi, Tella, Walcott, N’Lundulu, Ferry, Romeu

Leeds provisional squad: Meslier, Casilla, Alioski, Llorente, Struijk, Cooper, Ayling, Berardi, Davis, Dallas, Phillips, Shackleton, Roberts, Jenkins, Rodrigo, Harrison, Raphinha, Hernandez, Poveda, Bamford