Saints' place in the last 16 of the Worthington League Cup came with a price as they picked up injuries to three key players.

Marian Pahars, Matthew Oakley and Stuart Ripley are all doubtful for Saturday's trip to Leicester after limping out of the dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool at The Dell.

Biggest worries are Oakley who jarred his back during the first half and Ripley who hurt his groin while Pahars went off with a leg injury.

Manager Dave Jones said: "We are waiting to see if it is a kick or a pull. We will have a better idea on all three tomorrow but right now they are all struggling."

Also doubtful is winger Luis Boa Morte who suffered a recurrence of his hamstring problem during training yesterday forcing him to pull out of last night's game.

It was the first time Saints had beaten Liverpool at The Dell since Valentine's Day 1994 and the last-gasp victory was particularly sweet for former Evertonian Dave Jones who took sick stick from the visiting fans.

Michael Owen fired the Merseysiders in front but Southampton hit back to win through Dean Richards and Trond Soltvedt who scored his first goal for his new club in injury-time.

He said: "It was a great moment for me and a very important one for the club. I did not think about offside. I just timed my run and hoped Kevin Davies would see me and he played a great ball."

With just seconds remaining there was no danger of Saints squandering the lead this time and Jones joked: "I'm just glad we did not get a third - otherwise we would have drawn again!

"It was a bitty game with a lot of mistakes but we kept fighting and dug out the victory."

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