SAINTS are taking a look at German goalkeeper Marc Ziegler who is out of favour at VFB Stuttgart.

The 23-year-old is over on a two-week trial and hopes to play in the reserve team friendly against the Australian Olympic side at Staplewood a week on Thursday.

Ziegler, at 6ft 5in, has won four Under-21 games and played 44 times in the Bundesliga plus seven UEFA Cup ties.

But when Ralf Rajnick took over as coach, Ziegler lost his place to Austrian keeper Franz Wolfhart.

He said: "I am young and it is important for me to play first-team football. Sitting on the bench is no good to me so I want to leave Stuttgart.

"I would like to play in the Premiership and I think I could do well there. I have the height for it because it seems to be a much more physical and strong game than in Germany. I noticed that even in training."

Saints boss Dave Jones is playing down talk of a possible deal saying: "He is just over here on trial in the same way that we have had many players over.

"There is no harm in having a look. He comes highly recommended and he is here for a while so we will just see if he is good enough. It can never be wrong to do that."

Saints are nursing a few minor knocks ahead of Saturday's home game against Sheffield Wednesday. Goalkeeper Paul Jones did not train yesterday after taking a bang on an elbow in the 4-1 defeat at Everton.

Marian Pahars has recovered from the bang on a knee but Francis Benali has added a slight hamstring strain to the calf problem which made him doubtful ahead of the game at Goodison.

And in a further blow he has learned that the booking he received in the pre-season friendly against Lierse has been reported and will count in the Premiership.

It means he already has three yellow cards against his name, just two away from suspension.

He said: "It is very disappointing. I did not think it was a bad challenge and it was a nothing game but now I'm already close to a ban."

Tickets for Saturday's clash with Sheffield Wednesday are now on gen-eral sale at The Dell along with tickets for the September 11 trip to Middlesbrough priced £22 for adults and £12 for children and senior citizens.

Saints will wait until after tonight's Inter Toto Cup second leg between West Ham and Metz before re-arranging their trip to Upton Park.

Dave Jones' men were due to go there tomorrow but the Premiership fixture must be re-arranged because of the Hammers' European commitments. Harry Redknapp's men trail 1-0 from the home leg.

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