Beattie set to miss opener

Striker James Beattie is expected to miss Southampton’s opening game of the new season at Aston Villa tomorrow through injury.

Beattie, a target for Villa boss David O’Leary, is struggling to recover from the thigh injury which he suffered in last weekend’s 3-1 friendly win over Chievo.

Peter Crouch, a £2m (€3m) signing from Villa during the summer, stands by to replace him while Swedish midfielder Mikael Nilsson will make his debut after completing a €745,000 move from Halmstad.

But midfielder Matthew Oakley and defender Michael Svensson are both ruled out by long-term knee injuries while striker Marian Pahars has failed to overcome an ankle problem.

Provisional squad (from): Niemi, Dodd, Lundekvam, Higginbotham, Le Saux, Fernandes, Prutton, Folly, Nilsson, Phillips, Beattie, Crouch, Van Damme, A Svensson, Delap, Griffit, Kenton, Telfer, Smith.