Flynn Downes is pushing to be fit for Southampton’s Championship clash with Bolton on Saturday despite suffering an ankle injury in their 1-0 win over Norwich City.
The midfielder was forced off after just 22 minutes at Carrow Road on Wednesday night, but head coach Tonda Eckert revealed Downes is already keen to make himself available for the weekend.
“He said, ‘Strap me up, and I’ll play on Saturday’, so let’s see how that goes,” Eckert said.
“It’s the outside ligaments on the ankle.
“I think outside is not as bad normally. But we will assess him tomorrow, and then we’ll see for the weekend.”
Kuryu Matsuki scored the only goal of the game at Carrow Road and reflecting on the win, Eckert said: “Norwich are one of the teams that is probably one of the best in the league to break you down. We needed to grow into the game a bit,” he said.
“There were one or two situations where, at the beginning, we didn’t get the ball down on the ground quickly. For me, the pitch was quite open.
“Then we grew into the game, got more and more control. Obviously, you never want to be forced to make as many substitutions as we had to.
“But it is what it is. You have to find a way.”