Southampton have now picked up just one point in their last eight Premier League fixtures, with Ralph Hasenhuttl's side looking a shadow of the team that briefly went top of the Premier League earlier in the season.

A key factor behind their drop in form looks to have been the absence of Kyle Walker-Peters, who has picked up two separate injury issues so far this year, which have kept him sidelined and forced Hasenhuttl to look for alternative options at right-back.

The young defender quickly established himself as a key player with the Saints following his loan spell last season, which was made permanent last summer as he won over the Austrian manager and fans with his impressive performances.

Those displays continued into the new season, with Walker-Peters having made 19 appearances in the top-flight so far this season, averaging a solid 7/10 rating - the third-best of any Saints player.

Southampton have picked up 29 points in the 19 games in which the 23-year-old has featured, averaging 1.53 points per game, whereas in the six Premier League games he has missed through injury, Hasenhuttl's side have earned just one point, averaging 0.17 points per game.

This immediately emphasises that the South Coast club struggle without the right-back, which makes it even more baffling that Hasenhuttl allowed back-up right-back Yan Valery to depart on loan during January, without any back-up being brought in.

Walker-Peters briefly returned for the consecutive games against Wolves earlier this month after picking up an injury in training but was forced off in the Premier League defeat, with Hasenhuttl confirming that he would miss a few weeks at least.

The Austrian manager has deployed Jan Bednarek as a right-back in recent fixtures, and whilst the Polish international is solid from a defensive point of view, he doesn't offer the same attacking threat as Walker-Peters.

The former Spurs man offers Southampton an out ball by pushing high up the right-hand side and formed an excellent partnership with Stuart Armstrong down that side, something which Bednarek is unfortunately unable to replicate.

Walker-Peters, who earns £23k per week at Southampton, has also registered more tackles on average than any other Saints defender, barring Kayne Ramsay who has made just one appearance, which could be a factor as to why Southampton have struggled defensively so much in recent weeks.

Jermaine Beckford said on the post-match Sky Sports coverage of the 3-0 defeat to Leeds United that the Saints' recent run of form and how many goals they are conceding right now was "disgusting", so it seems clear that they need Walker-Peters back in their side as soon as possible if they want to turn their awful run of form around.

And, in other news... Dire: Old habits die hard for £15m Southampton man who lost 71% of his duels vs Leeds