Gaston Ramirez to miss six weeks with thigh injury

Southampton spent a club record £12 million on Gaston Ramirez this summer, but now they will have to play without him after a thigh injury landed him in the hospital. The Uruguayan hurt his leg in training and while it seemed and innocent injury at the time, his thigh later swelled up and proved to be very serious.

Early indications are that Ramirez will miss six weeks. If his injury does keep him out that long, Ramirez will return in the beginning of December.

"I think six weeks is probably about right, but we'll see how he progresses through the rehab stages," Saints manager Nigel Adkins said. "If the time is from the medical department, it is from the date of original injury. He is showing good signs of recovery at this moment of time, but he won't be fit for the weekend."

Without Ramirez, Southampton will be hard-pressed to score enough to mitigate their disaster of a defense. They have scored 12 goals, but have conceded 20 times this season.