Adam Blackmore of BBC Radio Solent has provided a positive update on James Ward-Prowse.

The Southampton No.16 suffered a seemingly-serious injury in the Saints' last outing against Tottenham in the FA Cup, following a collision with Ryan Sessegnon which left the midfielder hopping around the turf before having to be carried off on a stretcher.

It looked as if the 25-year-old would be out for a significant period of time, although Blackmore has now provided an update which will presumably be music to the St Mary's faithful's ears.

What did he say?

Blackmore tweeted: "James Ward-Prowse trained today for the first time since his injury at Spurs - Ralph H says he’s looking good for the weekend. Kyle Walker-Peters could make his Saints debut - fit and ready to play. So, good news for JWP & KWP !"

Big boost

With Southampton only six points off sixth-placed Tottenham, and with a kind run of fixtures ahead, Ward-Prowse's potential return this weekend will come as a big boost.

The Saints academy graduate is arguably one of Ralph Hasenhuttl's most important players, having started each and every one of the club's 25 Premier League games this season while also playing 90 minutes in every outing - he is the definition of an ever-present.

Besides just having a perfect attendance score, the Englishman is also effective.

He is Southampton's highest-rated player on WhoScored this term with an average rating of 7.08, which is even higher than 17-goal Danny Ings' rating of 7.00 - seeing how hugely important the former Liverpool striker is to Hasenhuttl, you can only imagine how vital Ward-Prowse is if he has been performing better than Ings statistically.

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With a place in Europe next season very much in sight for Southampton, it is a huge boost for the club to have such an influential figure back in action - even more so when the signs looked ominous in north London recently.

In other news, Will Smallbone and Dan N'Lundulu have responded to Callum Slattery's first Instagram post since departing St Mary's...