Sadio Mane will only return from international duty today – but Ronald Koeman insists the winger can still start against Sunderland.

Mane played for Senegal in Wednesday night’s 1-0 loss away to Tunisia, in an African Cup of Nations qualifier, and was not due back at St Mary’s until this morning.

Saints manager Koeman said the club had not received any reports of the 22-year-old suffering injury while with his country, but they will assess him properly today.

Assuming he is healthy, Koeman says there will still be enough time to prepare him to start tomorrow.

“It’s not too late,” said the Saints boss, who confirmed no players had yet returned from international action suffering from any problems.

“I have to wait and I have to speak to Sadio.

“I have to know about the training session, what he will do and what he can do after travelling, and then I will make the decision for the starting line-up.”

With the Ebola virus spreading in Africa, and both Mane and Zambia’s Emmanuel Mayuka having visited the continent during the past week, Koeman confirmed each player would be monitored by the club’s medical staff on return, although with neither having visited an infected area there is no real concern.

“I spoke to the doctor, and he told me that they will control the players when they come back and to keep everything on a good way what they have to do, but it’s a medical part and that’s the function of our team doctor,” he said.

If Mane does not start, Shane Long is likely to take his place in the line-up and, while the £12.5m summer signing is still searching for his first Saints goal, Koeman has no doubt it will arrive soon.

“I’m not worried about Shane Long, because we believe in the qualities of the player,” he said.

“Maybe the way of training, maybe that’s a little bit different than he was used to do in the past.

“And maybe the position he has to play is a little bit different, but he gets the time to adapt to our way of playing and he will score goals for sure, I don’t doubt that.”

With no problems having emerged during international week, it is only long-term absentees, such as James Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriguez, who are set to miss tomorrow’s game.

Koeman provided another updated on the latter of those players, with Rodriguez still up to two months away from returning to full training.

“He’s doing well, he’s in his last part of rehabilitation to recover 100 per cent, and I think it will take seven or eight weeks more to be fit for training sessions with the group,” he said.

“Okay, we will wait for that, but he is working hard and he is doing everything to come back in a good shape.”