Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu has suggested that it was inevitable that the team would miss Manolo Gabbiadini for Saturday's derby with Bournemouth.
The January signing has scored six goals in five games for the Saints, but he was absent for last weekend's goalless draw with the Cherries and he will also miss the fixture with Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.
The 25-year-old is quoted by the Southern Daily Echo as saying: "The shape we had when [Gabbiadini] was playing was very good and he was scoring and that is very good for the team.
"Of course we will miss him but I think that Shane [Long] and Jay [Rodriguez] did a good job. Every time they come out they try to do their best.
"His form was just amazing and he was very dangerous and you could see defenders from other teams were very aware of him at that point."
Southampton possess the fifth worst scoring record in the top flight after netting just 33 goals in 28 matches.
Darren Plant
