Saints' opponents this weekend, Aston Villa, have suspended assistant manager Ian Culverhouse and head of football operations Gary Karsa ''pending an internal investigation''.
The suspension of the pair, who followed boss Paul Lambert to Villa after working with him at Norwich and before then at Colchester, was confirmed in a statement from the Premier League club.
Gordon Cowans and keeper Shay Given have been temporarily promoted to assist Lambert and his first-team coaching staff.
Villa said in a statement: ''The club can confirm that Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa have been suspended pending an internal investigation.''
The statement quoted Lambert as saying: ''I'm delighted to have Gordon and Shay to assist me in preparing the team for Saturday which is what the whole group is focused on.''
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