Thursday 26 April 2018 17:15, UK
Southampton boss Mark Hughes has confirmed Sofiane Boufal has been relegated to the U23 squad after a training ground bust-up.
Boufal started Hughes' first two games in charge but has not appeared for the Saints since their 3-0 defeat to West Ham on March 31.
Hughes has spoken to Boufal about the incident but revealed the Morocco international will not be involved for Saturday's crucial game at home to Bournemouth.
When asked to clarify the situation regarding Boufal, Hughes said: "He made a mistake which he has acknowledged to me since. At the moment he is training with the U23s but he has missed a few days because he was ill.
"Given where we are at the moment, he is probably best served just training with a different group just to make people aware it shouldn't have happened.
"He understands that now and he probably needs to build a little bit of trust with his own team-mates and that is the process we are working towards.
"He won't be involved this weekend [against Bournemouth]."
Southampton remain in real danger of relegation - they are currently four points from safety with four games to play - and Hughes admits that they must beat Bournemouth to have any realistic hopes of survival.
"It is clear to us, this is a black and white situation and we need to win the game," he said.
"Clearly we need three points. It has been a long time coming.
"We are well into the business end of this season and it is time to get business done."
Southampton welcomed back Charlie Austin to the starting line-up last month after the striker had missed three months out with injury.
When asked if he thought Southampton would not be in the relegation battle had Austin been fit all season, Hughes said: "I think that is probably fair to say.
"Charlie will always score goals. He has done that throughout his career. We need him fit and well.
"There is no point looking back and saying: 'what if' because it doesn't help anybody in the situation we find ourselves in."
