José Fonte says he has moved on from the training ground incident that saw Dani Osvaldo suspended for two weeks after allegedly headbutting him.

The defender scored the opening goal in last night’s pulsating 2-2 draw with Arsenal at St Mary’s and then spoke publicly for the first time since news of Osvaldo’s ban broke.

“What can I say, I’m fine,” said the centre-half, who sustained a black eye in the incident.

“It has been eventful, obviously, and what happened wasn’t nice at the training ground, but I am man enough and I have moved on and I hope everyone can move on and focus on what is important, which is Southampton, the club and winning games of football.

“There is no problem with me, I am fine, so I just want to keep playing.”

Osvaldo is still to break his silence on the matter, although he did, rather oddly, retweet all of the messages from Saints’ official account last night which contained photos of Fonte.

It remains to be seen whether the Italian international will remain at Saints beyond the end of the transfer window, although his future is certainly in serious doubt right now.

Fonte says the incident has not upset the mood within the squad, though.

“This group is very strong mentally and the togetherness is there,” he said. “We know each other really well and know what we are all capable of.

“We are professional and know that we have to do a job on the pitch because this is our careers and our lives and we need to deliver.

“Credit to all the players who showed great character and great belief.”

On the draw with Arsenal, he said: “We are disappointed we didn’t get the three points because I felt we deserved it.

“It was lively and it was hard because Arsenal are such a good team.

“They came at us in the second half and possibly we didn’t defend very well but we have to give credit to them because they are one of the best teams in the world and they have great players.

“They forced their way in and scored two goals, but it was a great reaction from us after that.”