BOSS Ralph Hasenhuttl revealed defender Mohammed Salisu’s wait to make his Saints debut would continue.

The centre-half, signed from Valladolid for £10.9million in the summer, is yet to appear for the St Mary’s side this season and is set to miss Sunday’s home clash with Everton (2pm).

Hasenhuttl said Ghanaian Salisu was “completely” training with his first team this week - but stressed the need to “be careful” with the 21-year-old.

Asked whether Salisu was available to play against the Toffees, the Saints boss said: “Sali not so far. He is still building up for being part of the team. He is in the team training this week completely.

“But we have to be careful with him.”

Saints will also be without young midfielder Will Smallbone and Moussa Djenepo for the battle against the high-flying Toffees.

Loan forward Theo Walcott is also unavailable to feature against his parent club.

But Scotland international Stuart Armstrong is back in training having completed his isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19.

“Stu is back in training,” said the manager.

“He’s had one good session with us and let’s have a look at how he is for the weekend.

“He is good. He is back and did not have a lot of symptoms to be honest, just a little bit.

“He could immediately train hard with us and had no further issues.

“This is a positive thing.”

Hasenhuttl added: “We know we have a problem with Theo out because playing against Everton he cannot be part of the squad.

“Moussa is still out with an injury, so we have a little bit of problems in the 10 position.

“Will Smallbone is out because he has a problem with his quad muscle. It’s a little problem, not a big issue but hopefully he’s back soon.”