Southampton's Jay Rodriguez could require foot surgery

Jay Rodriguez’s nightmare injury run shows no sign of easing with Ronald Koeman revealing the Southampton striker could require surgery to his foot.

The England international has not played for the club since the 2-2 draw with Leicester City on October 17 and missed a year of football when he ruptured his anterior cruciate knee ligament in April 2014.

"Jay [Rodriguez] is not good," Koeman said at his press conference ahead of Saturday's visit of Stoke City.

"It's now a long time and we have to make a really tough decision how we treat it.

"Maybe it will be a surgery next week. Still his feet is a problem, it gives a lot of pain. We did everything and now, the final call, maybe it will be surgery next week."

Koeman refused to speculate on a potential return date for Rodriguez should the 26-year-old require an operation.

"We have to wait and first make that tough decision and then of course we will know something more about how long he will be out," Koeman added.

The injury news was otherwise positive for Koeman, who will be able to call up Virgil van Dijk and Shane Long for the clash with Stoke.

Defender Van Dijk withdrew from the Netherlands squad with a knee problem after Friday's 3-2 win against Wales, while Long returned from an ankle injury in the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2016 playoff win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Everybody is back and everybody is available for the weekend," Koeman said. "Of course, some players after a long journey back they're still tired today, but it's still not Saturday and the players will be OK for the weekend."

"He [Van Dijk] had some knee problems, but he had a good treatment after the Friday game against Wales and he was very soon back in Southampton to work hard to be fit for the weekend and he did a normal training session today."

Koeman warned his side face a stern challenge against a Stoke side that Mark Hughes has transformed.

"It's always hard to beat Stoke. We had that experience last year. We played against them three times and every game was difficult," he said.

"But it's the same for them. It's also difficult to beat Southampton. It will be a good game, because they have signed some good, technical players. Maybe they've changed their style a little bit, depending on the players they have available.

"We know it's a difficult one, but we're looking forward to it."