Saints face an anxious wait to see the full extent of a knee ligament injury to new £2.1m man Nigel Quashie.

The midfielder only signed for Saints from Portsmouth on Tuesday but yesterday damaged knee ligaments in a tackle during training.

Quashie is now definitely out of today's home match with Liverpool where he was expected to make his debut and is also cup-tied for next Saturday's FA Cup fourth round match with former club Portsmouth.

But Saints will be keeping everything crossed that their newest signing has not done himself any serious damage and will be fit for the Premiership trip to Birmingham on February 2.

Saints boss Harry Redknapp said: "He went in for a tackle in training and twisted and tweaked his ligaments.

"I don't know how long he'll be out for but he will not be fit to play against Liverpool. We don't know the full extent but we hope it's not too bad."

Meanwhile, Saints will not be pursuing their interest in Russian international striker Dmitri Bulykin.

The Dinamo Moscow frontman had a two-day trial with the club but is not quite what Redknapp was looking for. The 25-year-old, who has also attracted interest from Bolton and Crystal Palace, has now joined Portsmouth on trial.

Redknapp said: "He was with us for a couple of days but he went to Portsmouth yesterday.

"He's got a good record but it's not one we'll be pursuing."

Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric added: "He has been training with us and I will be discussing him with Velimir after the Chelsea game and we will make a decision early next week."