Saints' place in the third round of the Worthington League Cup has come at a price with three players picking up injuries in last night's 3-1 win at Mansfield.

Centre-backs Dean Richards and Tahar El Khalej are both doubtful for Saturday's home game against Middlesbrough after limping off at Field Mill where Southampton completed a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Richards hurt an Achilles while El Khalej is feeling a calf and the club are anxiously waiting to see how they settle.

And in a further blow, luckless young left wing-back Ryan Ashford was stretchered off just 20 minutes into his debut with a painful ankle injury after kicking the underside of Lee Williams' boot. He is likely to be out for at least a fortnight.

Hoddle said: "Tahar and Dean are both a concern for Saturday and at the moment I would say they are touch-and-go.

"They are not sure if they are kicks or strains but if they are strains then they will almost certainly be out.

"It was a great shame for Ryan to have to come off early in his first game. He is on crutches at the moment but that is precautionary at the moment and we will see how it looks today."

Despite the injury set-backs Hoddle was delighted with the professionalism of the performance despite the unsettling effect of arriving at the ground just 25 minutes before the scheduled kick-off because of an accident which closed the A38.

In the event the start was put back 15 minutes.

Hoddle added: "In a strange way that delay might have helped us because it meant we were very focused to ensure we did not get off to a sloppy start.

"It was a very professional display to get a fourth consecutive win and it was just a shame we did not get a fourth clean sheet to go with it.

"It was a slippery horrible own goal which could not have been averted and if that record had to go then it is OK to do it when you win 5-1 on aggregate.

After ending a run of five starts with out a goal, Rosler said: "It was a big relief for me to get that first goal and it was just disappointing that my second was ruled out for offside.

Francis Benali is hoping to make his first appearance of the season tonight as Saints reserves travel to Derby.

The defender broke a leg in La Manga during the summer and then re-opened the crack in pre-season but he rejoined full training on Monday.

He said: "It has been a frustrating time but the leg feels better and hopefully I can get a run-out tonight. I have been doing a lot of fitness work but I will need a couple of games to get my match sharpness."

Saints have been ordered to pay Swansea £100,000 compensation for Wales Under-16 midfielder who joined the Southampton Academy at the start of the season. He followed head of recruitment Malcolm Elias to The Dell and the fee could eventually reach £500,000 with appearances and caps.

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