RALPH Hasenhuttl is hopeful that Moussa Djenepo will return in time for the consecutive trips to Manchester City at the end of the month.

Djenepo has been out of action with a muscle injury since hitting the winner against Sheffield United in September.

And while ruling him out for this weekend’s trip to Wolves, Hasenhuttl is hopeful he will make it back for the back-to-back trips to the Etihad Stadium.

Hasenhuttl said: “They [Cedric and Djenepo] are getting closer but how close I don’t know.

“Moussa has no problems so far because he can run, sprint and pass the ball, but he still can’t shoot.

“That is still the most dangerous movement he can do, and we have tried to keep it away because if it’s hurting again then he can be out for longer.

“We must be very, very patient with him. He has a scan today and then we will know more.

“He isn’t available for the weekend. I am thinking he will be back for the Manchester City games. That’s the hope I have.”

Defender Cedric will also miss the Wolves fixture after not recovering from his calf injury in time.

The Portuguese international suffered the setback during the warm-up at White Hart Lane which meant he had to withdraw from the Tottenham game ahead of kick-off.

Cedric took to social media to show he was ramping up his recovery by taking part in some sprints at the club’s Staplewood Campus.

Although Hasenhuttl explained why it will still be a while before the 28-year-old is back in the starting XI.

He added: “It will be a little bit shorter, but the development of his calf injury is not as quick as I thought it would be.

“I think it will take another two weeks until he is back.”

There was some good news on the injury front for Saints, as all of the players away on international duty returned with a clean bill of health.

This means that Hasenhuttl can get to work straight away preparing for Saturday’s encounter with Wolves.

“I think they are all fit. Not everybody played 90 minutes. Kevin Danso for the Austrian Under-21s played two times. Pierre played one time for 90 minutes and the other time for 30,” he continued.

“Maya played two times for 90 minutes and Jan played two times for 90 minutes and kept two clean sheets.

“It’s good that they are fit and have no injuries so far. It’s still just Moussa Djenepo and Cedric injured.”