Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl says Ryan Bertrand is still working his way to full fitness.

It was confirmed that he had to undergo a 'minor back operation' in December that was only supposed to keep him out for “12-14 days." However, Bertrand has now missed 16 games despite returning to full training over two weeks ago.

Hasenuhttl said: “I think he is still raising his physical strength.

“On this part he has to work because he was long out and it's normal that if you start again training with the team it takes time until you are at the level where you can play 90 minutes.

“It doesn't make sense to bring any player on the bench if he is unable to play 90 minutes in the moment.

“That's what he has to work on and he is doing it.

“We've had ten very good intensive sessions [since Bertrand's returned to training] and played 11 against 11 for a long time in the sessions.

“It's been very intensive with a lot of long runs and that's exactly what he needs at the moment to come back into the best physical shape."