Gavin Bazunu, a Republic of Ireland international, sustained an Achilles injury before Southampton’s Championship game against Preston North End and is anticipated to miss the remainder of the season.
Leeds United’s promotion opponents Southampton have been stunned by the news that first-choice goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu is expected to miss the rest of the season due to an Achilles injury. The Republic of Ireland international suffered the injury in the warm-up before Tuesday’s 3-0 victory over Preston North End.
Alex McCarthy replaced Bazunu in goal, with the former Manchester City goalkeeper arriving into the dugout during the game on crutches and wearing a protective boot. After the Preston win, Saints manager Russell Martin said: “He’s felt something in his Achilles and will have a scan tomorrow. I am confident that by the time I speak with you on Friday, we will know the full nature of the situation.
“But I’m not expecting to see Gavin anytime soon. I am devastated for him, but we will support him to the fullest extent possible because that is how this club operates.”
Martin was impressed with McCarthy’s performance after his late call-up. “I thought Al was brilliant,” he explained. “He’s quite well-trained. Because he is not on the bench, he may have easily been considered third choice.
“He travels everywhere, trains like a beast, helps the other goalies, and has a wealth of expertise. He played for England and is an excellent goalie.
“We’ve seen what Joe [Lumley] is capable of, and he’s performed admirably in the games in which he has appeared, but I wanted to take a look at Al. It was simply an instinctive judgment at the time. Fortunately for us, everything paid off, and he only had one chance at dealing with everything tonight.
“But he did well with everything he needed to do so now we have another selection problem ahead of Saturday.”
Flynn Downes was substituted at half-time last night, but Martin believes he will be fine for the trip to Cardiff City on Saturday. He told the Daily Echo, “I believe he got a little bit of a knock.
“There’s simply no point in risking anything with him right now. He’s been a really essential player. Shea Charles was fantastic when he came in.
“I think the subs were all fine. They had a significant impact on the game, but Shea, who came on at halftime, was particularly effective.
“I kept the ball moving, won a lot of games, intercepted a lot of passes, and made touch with people. He’s a great player. “He’s just been unfortunate.”
Southampton stay fourth in the Championship, four points below the automatic promotion spots. They are three points behind United, despite having a game in hand.
Martin’s squad understands that they must win all four of their remaining games to have the best chance of finishing in the top two. Three consecutive home wins have revived their promotion bid.
“It has been a big week for us,” he conceded. “It has altered the dynamics (of the promotion battle). We were written off a while ago, but the players have stayed with it and remained resilient.
“We have the opportunity to take the points off teams around us but if we have to take care of the next one against Cardiff and if we don’t then the others become a bit pointless.”
