Djamel Belmadi will find out in the coming days whether he will be offered a new contract at Saints.

The Algerian midfielder's current deal runs out this summer and the club have decided to give themselves a bit of breathing space before coming to any final conclusion.

There has never been any question over Belmadi's ability and quality on the ball on the left or right of midfield.

But he has struggled with injuries ever since George Burley replaced Harry Redknapp in December 2005.

Last season he managed just 11 league and cup starts with a further six appearances from the bench.

With potentially tighter budgets at St Mary's, Saints boss Burley and his team will think long and hard and come to a decision.

Burley said: "With Djamel, we're looking at his situation.

"He's missed a lot of games through injury.

"We'll be looking at it this week. We will contact Djamel and take it from there.

"He's been very unfortunate over a number of years with injuries.

"He's played a few games this season and been out, but there's no doubting the boy's ability."

Full story: See today's Daily Echo.