AINSLEY Maitland-Niles is facing a late fitness test to determine his availability for Saints’ clash with Brentford at St Mary’s on Wednesday evening.

After a frustrating individual campaign for the Arsenal loanee, Maitland-Niles had started to play a consistent role in the final days of Nathan Jones’s tenure and the beginning of Ruben Selles’s, starting four Premier League games in a row.

But a knock suffered shortly before the trip to Manchester United ruled him out of the Old Trafford draw and it remains to be seen if he will make it back into contention for the midweek visit of the Bees.

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In addition to Maitland-Niles, Saints full-backs Juan Larios and Tino Livramento continue to be sidelined as they work their way back from long-term hamstring and knee injuries respectively.

"We still have Juan Larios and Tino Livramento out of the squad," Selles confirmed in his pre-Brentford press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

"Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be tested tomorrow morning and we'll see if he's available.

"I don't know really any more than the medical staff. I'm waiting their answer tomorrow morning."

Selles and Saints fans would have been relieved to see midfielder Charly Alcaraz emerge from Sunday’s 0-0 draw unscathed after entering the occasion with knee bruising. Victory against Brentford would drag Saints out of the relegation zone.