Saints dealt Davis blow

Shot-stopping skipper out until after the New Year

By Elliot Ball   Last updated: 25th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Saints dealt Davis blow

Davis: Ruled out of Christmas fixture list by manager

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis will not play again in 2009 after succumbing to a groin injury.

A return date has yet to be decided upon by the Saints' medical team as the 33-year-old requires a scan to determine the extent of the ailment which forced the club captain off after an hour of Tuesday's 3-1 win at Hartlepool.

And Saints boss Alan Pardew has revealed he expects the experienced keeper to be absent from the South Coast club's festive programme in League One.

"He will probably be out over Christmas," said Pardew. "He was feeling it and he wanted to play on, but as soon as he was kicking into the wind he was always going to be in trouble.

"He's got a pull in his groin and it's not easy to cure."

Pardew has backed Bartosz Bialkowski to fill Davis' gloves between the sticks with the Pole now set for a run in the first team.

"He's quite a cool guy and I don't think he'll be fazed by it all, and we look forward to seeing him in the team," added Pardew of Bialkowski.