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Southampton team news: Ever-present a doubt for Saints ahead of Palace clash

Southampton will look to bounce back from their disappointing defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend, when they make the trip to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace on Tuesday evening, but they could be without a key man for the contest.

Saints were 2-0 up and cruising against Wolves on Saturday afternoon, but collapsed in a heap defensively and ended up losing 3-2, something they will be out to respond to here.

That was the only loss in seven matches for Southampton though, and now they go to a team who have won just one of their last nine outings, and who like the Hampshire outfit, are generally better on the road than they are in front of their own fans.

If the Saints are to put that defeat to Wolves behind them, there is a strong chance they will have to do so without their central defender Jan Bednarek, the man who opened the scoring in that weekend humbling.

The Southampton centre-half has an Achilles issue, which is likely to keep him out of his first Premier League game of the season, as his manager Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed when he addressed the media ahead of the match.

“We have Jan Bednarek who has a little bit of a problem with his Achilles,” the Saints’ official website quote him as saying.

“So far, the rest were a little bit tired I think yesterday, but today let’s have a look.

“We have training in the afternoon so can have a look.”

Aside from the defender, Southampton look to have a clean enough bill of health, with only youngster Yan Valery missing out as he continues to recover from a viral infection.

Saints head to the capital knowing they could move into the top half of the Premier League table with a win, which means they have plenty of incentive for the three points at Selhurst Park.

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