TOP scorer Paul Onuachu will be assessed ahead of Saints hosting Aston Villa in the Premier League tomorrow, interim boss Simon Rusk has revealed.
Onuachu has scored in consecutive games at St Mary's but dropped to the for Sunday's 3-1 defeat at Tottenham with an ankle concern given as the official reason.
Former manager Ivan Juric expressed his opinion that the Nigerian forward cannot play more than once a week without his level dropping.
The 30 year old has trained with the group this week, and Rusk believes things look positive ahead of facing Unai Emery's side.
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"We've got a fairly clean bill of health at the minute. There are one or two. Charlie Taylor is knocking about with one or two issues," Rusk said ahead of tomorrow's game.
"Paul has trained; he is in and around it. We have one or two that we are assessing, and Paul is one of them. We're hoping that the signs for that are looking good."
Onuachu has scored four goals and provided one assist from nine Premier League starts this season.
Only former Aston Villa forward Cameron Archer has scored more than him this season (five), but just two of his goals have come in the Premier League.
The 23 year old has not scored since Southampton's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup during Rusk's previous spell as interim boss.
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