PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Mario Lemina - Gabonese star makes his return in Chelsea defeat

by Helder Ribiero

Tuesday Apr 24, 2018. 16:00

The Gabon international made his return to Southampton FC’s starting line-up as they were beaten by Chelsea over the weekend.

Lemina missed three matches due an issue with his back, which was affecting his hamstring according to the Saints manager Mark Hughes.

The central midfielder faced a late fitness test ahead of the FA Cup semi-final clash which ended in a 2-0 in favour of Chelsea at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

The Saints have now turned their focus to the English Premier League as they look to retain their status in the elite league.

They are currently placed 18th on the league standings with 29 points from 34 games. The Saints four points behind 17th-placed Swansea City with four games left.

“It’s quite clear from our point of view, there are no grey areas, it’s black and white we need to win,” Hughes said on Daily Echo.

Hughes believes that Southampton may well be playing a lesser side in their last four league matches.

“We have had fixtures against really good quality teams of late,” he admitted.

“We have played Chelsea twice, we have played Leicester away, we played Arsenal. They’ve been really big games that will always test us.

“It’s not disrespectful to the teams we will face in the next three or four games but maybe the quality will not be as high,” he said .

“If we can acquit ourselves as well as we have in these recent games I think we get the points we need.”

The Saints will host AFC Bournemouth at the St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday. Their last three games are against Everton FC (away), Swansea (away) and Manchester City (home).