Larin and Jander to be assessed
Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert says the availability of Cyle Larin for Tuesday’s trip to West Brom is “a question of how much risk you want to take”.
Saints’ top scorer has missed the last two matches after hobbling out of the goalless draw against Bolton at St Mary’s following a collision with former teammate Gavin Bazunu.
With the striker likely to be under consideration for Canada’s international fixtures that follow Saints’ visit to Preston on Saturday, Eckert is exercising caution this week.
“That is a fair assessment,” he replied, when asked if Larin is a doubt for the clash at The Hawthorns. “With Cyle, he knows his body. It’s a decision of how much we want to rush, and I think that is still open.
“At the same time if you have something towards the bottom end of your hamstring it’s always a question of how much risk you want to take, especially if after you go into an international break. I think we’ll assess, but I wouldn’t rule out that he might be available.”
The head coach said Flynn Downes “will be ready” for the game at West Brom, but Caspar Jander, who missed Saturday’s 4-1 win over QPR, will need to be assessed.
“We’ll see,” Eckert said of Jander. “He picked up something muscular on Tuesday in the training session. It’s obviously a tough one for us but even tougher for him, because he’s worked so hard to come back into the team.
“I think he was excellent in the games that he’s played, so we need to assess and see.”
