Southampton delivered many positives last night as they swept Preston North End aside. However, one negative was the injury to Gavin Bazunu pre-game, with Russell Martin now revealing the extent of it.
Southampton clinched a dominant 3-0 victory over Preston on Tuesday night.
The Saints sent a clear message to their rivals after recording three consecutive home victories to move to within four points of Leicester City with a game in hand.
Che Adams sent Russell Martin‘s men on their way with an emphatic finish before producing “top quality” for his second while Stuart Armstrong added a third in the first half.
Martin’s men were incredible all over the park, putting in a statement performance despite watching Gavin Bazunu injure his Achilles in the warm-up.
Russell Martin issues Gavin Bazunu injury verdict
Before last night’s match, Bazunu had played every minute of their Championship campaign.
A crucial ingredient to how Martin’s men play out from the back, the 22-year-old is a key player, so losing him to injury last night was a huge blow.
Bazunu was replaced in goal by Alex McCarthy, however, this caused some controversy as the 34-year-old wasn’t initially named in the matchday squad, with Martin choosing to start the veteran over backup keeper Joe Lumley.
While Lumley was left frustrated by this decision, anyone could have played in goal last night as Preston registered just one shot on goal in the entire match.
It will be interesting to see who Martin selects in goal for their trip to Cardiff City on Saturday as the Saints boss reveals the extent of Bazunu’s injury, and it isn’t good.
“It’s a bad one,” Martin told the Saints’ official website.
“Really gutted for Gav, it looks a really bad one, so I don’t expect to see him again this season, but obviously we’ll know a bit more in the next couple of days and the players and the staff will support him as best as we possibly can, because we have brilliant people here at this club.”
Bazunu’s ball-playing ability is irreplaceable
Bazunu plays a key role in this Southampton side as most attacks begin from his distribution.
How he caresses the ball into his defenders’ path or accurately sends it long is irreplaceable to the Saints, who rely heavily on him to start their attacks from deep.
Lumley or McCarthy can’t match his levels in that regard, having watched him post an 86% pass completion and complete 96% of passes in his half.
The young shot-stopper still has a long way to go to make himself a commanding figure, but the ability he brings with the ball at his feet will be a huge miss.
As Southampton enter the run-in, Martin has a big decision to make on whether to start Lumley or McCarthy. Having started the latter against Preston, he may be reluctant to drop him against Cardiff, but either way, both players have big shoes to fill in Bazunu’s absence.