Leeds United promotion rivals dealt huge injury blow as manager makes 'fatigue' admission

Southampton boss Russell Martin will be checking on the fitness of Kyle Walker-Peters ahead of the weekend's clash with Birmingham City. Leeds United's promotion rivals were in action on Wednesday night as they lost 3-0 to a young Liverpool side in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

The defeat came at a cost, too, with Walker-Peters leaving the field in the 75th minute through injury. The full-back, who has been a key player at St Mary's this season only stepped into the fray in the 58th minute, replacing James Bree after starting the game as a substitute, but he was unable to continue and must be rated as a doubt ahead of Southampton's return to the Championship at the weekend.

The Saints will be desperate to end their three-game losing run in all competitions, which has seen them fall five points behind Leeds, and Martin will be hoping his England international will be passed fit to play.

"He has felt something," Martin said, as per the Daily Echo, after the game. "We will have to assess it and see where we are from there. It was a weird one because nobody knew he was going to come off. It is frustrating and hopefully, it is nothing too serious. We will know a little bit more in the next day or two."

Southampton made life difficult for Liverpool at times on Wednesday night before conceding two late goals in the 3-0 loss. Martin puts that down to fatigue, with the games coming thick and fast for the Saints of late, but the performance he saw from his side was enough to convince him they have what it takes to get over the line over the remaining 12 games of the Championship season.

"I would put it down to energy," Martin said when asked about the late collapse. "We had a bit of fatigue. We made some subs and then Kyle had to come off."

He added: "If you can do that here, you can do it anywhere. I have been unhappy with three halves of football for probably six months so if we can have that intensity and care then it will be an exciting end to the season.

"The biggest motivation for the players to have is to try and get to the Premier League and come to places like this every week. Then they can play football and showcase what they can do. They will be able to do the Premier League in a different way to how they have done it before.

"We won't change so hopefully they enjoyed the moments they had tonight at Anfield enough to whet their appetite to have some more of that."