Jose Fonte, Ryan Bertrand, Steven Davis and Charlie Austin have not travelled with Southampton for their Europa League match at Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
The quartet have been left at home to keep them fit for the Saints’ league fixture at Leicester on Sunday. Southampton will be looking to extend their current winning run to five games in all competitions on Thursday. “All the players are ready to play with good energy and for me that’s very important,” said manager Claude Puel. “Some players stay at home, because with the travel they won’t recover. “It’s important to also take the two games together, as a few days after we are playing again, so we have to manage all of the players.”
The Saints beat West Ham 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, continuing the successful run that began with the 3-0 home European win over Sparta Prague. However, Hapoel have won all five of their matches at the new Turner Stadium this season. They also beat Inter Milan in Italy in their opening Group K game.
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