Saints could get a welcome festive boost as their injury crisis looks set to ease slightly over the next week.

Boss Mauricio Pochettino will run the rule over Kelvin Davis, Luke Shaw, Nathaniel Clyne and Dani Osvaldo on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

That is in the hope they might be fit for the trip to Cardiff on Boxing Day, which kicks off an important run of three Premier League games in less than a week.

Jose Fonte is touch and go to be fit to play after having to make do with a place on the bench in the defeat to Tottenham as he continues to nurse an injury problem, while Maya Yoshida is in a similar boat.

Only Artur Boruc, Victor Wanyama and Guly do Prado are categorically ruled out of the festive games as Saints try to get back to winning ways after six matches without victory.

Pochettino said: “We need to assess how some of our players are doing such as Dani Osvaldo, Luke Shaw, Nathaniel Clyne and Kelvin Davis.

“On the other hand, other players such as Artur Boruc, Wanyama and Guly are out indefinitely as they are still recovering from their injuries.

“That is one of the main reasons we need all our players fit. We need to recover our fully fit squad.

“Jose Fonte had a slight problem, as did Maya Yoshida.

“It’s been a tough moment at this time because some of our players are having some personal problems that perhaps haven’t been talked about, and overall we are having a tough moment with illnesses and injuries.

“That has not made it possible that even though we have played well, and our performances have been good, the results have not come our way.

“We need to recover 100 per cent our energy, be fully focussed on the task in hand and get back to winning ways.”

Pochettino was reluctant to discuss Osvaldo’s absence after the loss to Spurs, but offered an explanation when pushed on it yesterday.

“He received a knock on his right leg during training and he had a slight problem,” he said.

“We thought he would be back but the analysis showed he wasn’t fully fit. We will see if he is fully fit for the next few games.”

Pochettino is trying to take the positives during a tough run for Saints and pointed out that some of the youngsters getting unexpected first team game time at the moment will be better for the experience.

“We are fully aware that players need to be 100 per cent competitive to play well and they need to get experience,” he explained.

“We all know what the project here at Southampton is of young players and young talent. They need that experience and that playing level and that will be very important for their futures.

“Right now it is a very tough moment for us but we are learning a lot.

“We are fully aware that these tough periods of illnesses and injuries can happen and we need to face it in a natural way, we need to be calm about things.

“We are aware things haven’t gone our way and that results lately have not been good.

“But we need to be calm and work 100 per cent to invert the situation.”