Southampton boss offers injury update amid Leeds United promotion battle after 'huge blow' report

Leeds United earned another important three points on Saturday in their battle to secure promotion up to the Premier League next season. Despite Patrick Bamford's controversial opening goal taking most of the headlines, the Whites breezed to a 3-0 win over Rotherham and matched their 1973/74 record of 18 straight games without defeat.

It was a day full of twists and turns in the Championship as fellow promotion chasers Ipswich Town dropped points to West Brom in a 2-2 draw. It looked as though Southampton would also be handed an upset at home when Huddersfield Town took a surprise 2-0 lead.

In an eight-goal thriller, the Saints bounced back to win 5-3 and keep the slim one-point cushion between themselves and Leeds. However, there could be some injury troubles for Russell Martin's side.

Daily Echo reporter Alfie House tweeted that Flynn Downes had come off the pitch through injury in a 'huge, huge blow' for Southampton. Ché Adams was also substituted early in the game but Martin has insisted he will 'be fine' to face Bristol City on Tuesday, despite him actually picking up a knock. As for Downes, no certain answer has been given yet.

"We'll have to assess Flynn and see, we have got a relentless schedule right now," the Saints boss told the Daily Echo after the match. "Ché didn't go off injured. He could have carried on, but he has got a knock. I wasn't aware of an injury, I just felt we needed a winger on that side of the pitch against the back five.

"We were finding it hard to break down. So it was Ché or Adam [Armstrong] [to be replaced] and it was so difficult because they are both top players. We felt Arma suited the game more than Ché at that point.

"But he'll be fine and he'll be a big player for us. But, yeah, he had a knock as well. I didn't know until after, but they're confident he'll be fine for Tuesday night."

Both Southampton and Ipswich have a game in-hand over Leeds, so Daniel Farke and his men cannot afford to drop points if they want to keep their challenge for a top two finish alive. But with the competitiveness of the promotion battle this season, it's still very much all to play for.