Saints' Ramsdale and Bednarek out for 'number of weeks'

Southampton will be without goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and centre-back Jan Bednarek for a number of weeks, says manager Russell Martin.

Ramsdale was among nine players to withdraw from England's squad last week because of a finger injury. Bednarek was forced off midway through Poland's 5-1 defeat by Portugal last Friday with concerns over a knee injury.

Bednarek is the only player to have started all 11 of Southamption's league matches this season.

Both players will miss Sunday's meeting with Premier League leaders Liverpool.

"They'll both be out for this weekend and a number of weeks," said Martin.

"They've been two of our best players all season. Of course it will affect the team and how it looks but others need to step in and take their opportunity."

Injuries to Ramsdale and Bednarek come prior to a tough run of fixtures for the Premier League's bottom side.

All of the Saints' six matches before Christmas come against sides currently in the Premier League's top nine. They also face Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup next month.

"Aaron has had an operation on his finger, he'll hopefully be back this side of Christmas," added Martin.

"Janny B, we spoke really quickly after the game. He was really worried about his knee injury.

"Thankfully the injury is not as significant as we fear, hopefully [he is back] a week or two before Aaron."