Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl says Liverpool loan signing Takumi Minamino is ready to play.

Minamino goes straight into the squad at Newcastle with Hasenhuttl confident he will be as ready to help injury-hit Saints as his last signing from Merseyside – the repatriation of Theo Walcott.

Hasenhuttl said: “I spoke with Jurgen. He said he didn't have the chance to give Minamino enough time to play.

“I'm sure when he played, he did good games and scored a few goals.

“He's a very special player for me - not because of his physical strength but more of his way of playing football.

“He is very quick in his mind, has good decision-making, knows about our pressing style and hopefully a lot of running.

“He knows when you come to me you have to run a lot, but that's not a problem for him.

“Although he didn't play a lot in the past games, he'll also need time to step up - but we had a good experience with Theo, who helped us immediately, and hopefully he does the same."