Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has confirmed that forward Jay Rodriguez is close to a return from the injury which kept him out for a year.

Rodriguez has not played since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury during the Saints' 4-1 defeat at Manchester City in early April 2014.

Koeman said: "Jay is now on his last part of training with the group. That means, normally, in four or five weeks he will be ready for playing.

"It is all about how he is progressing in the next few weeks but until now it is going well and faster than the period behind us.

"If he is ready to play, he will start with the Under-21s because that is lower intensity, it is more comfortable than the first-team. It is a long time and it is the step you have to make.

"It is important because it is an injection for the team because he is a good player, a good attacker and a scoring player. It is a pity that he has been unavailable until now.

"Already in the last few weeks because he is outside, he is running, then he is touching the ball and that is really football.

"It is always important for the player because that's good for his body. It looks close to playing football. If you are working in the gym, it is far away and sometimes it's difficult for your mind."

The 26-year old scored 15 league goals for the south coast club last year before his season was cut short by the injury.