Shane Long feared the worst after James Ward-Prowse was on the receiving end of a late challenge from Ryan Sessegnon, screaming, ‘F*** me, you can see his f***ing bone’ at the sight of his injured Southampton team-mate.
It was a thrilling opening to Wednesday night’s FA Cup fourth-round replay as Long cancelled out Jack Stephens’ own goal to level for Southampton in the 34th minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
With half-time approaching, though, Sessegnon left his studs in on Ward-Prowse as the pair contested for the ball to put a slight dampener on the evening.
Ward-Prowse hopped around in pain before hitting the deck and the makeshift right-back clung on to Danny Ings as Southampton’s medical staff treated a nasty-looking cut to his right knee.
Not looking good for ward-prowse, Shane long shouting “fuck me, you can see his fucking bone”
Get well soon JWP #totsou pic.twitter.com/eMqeHb3MhF— Drew (@Drew67930670) February 5, 2020
Ward-Prowse appeared to have calmed down before Long steamed in and said exactly what you wouldn’t want to hear if you were lying on the ground in agony.
‘F*** me, you can see his f***ing bone!’ the striker yelled as he caught a glimpse of Ward-Prowse’s knee.
Ward-Prowse was given oxygen before being carried off the pitch on a stretcher but, thankfully, it appears the England’s international’s injury is not as bad as first feared.
‘I’m happy that Prowsey’s injury is not that bad,’ Ralph Hasenhuttl said following Southampton’s 3-2 defeat.
‘That would’ve been horrible – to lose the game and lose him for longer, so this is the positive thing.
‘It’s only a cut on the knee – a deep one and you could see the bone, so it will take a little bit of time to heal, but if it was a ligament injury, it would be more of a problem for us.’
Jose Mourinho praised the character of his players after a pair of late goals from Lucas Moura and Son Heung-Min cancelled out Ings’ 72nd-minute strike to secure Spurs’ place in the fifth round.
‘My team performance was in the limits. It was in the limits for me with players available and not available. It was in the limits for them because two days ago they played such an incredible match,’ the Portuguese said.
‘We suffered. We played against a very good team, we played against a team that was the best team on the pitch but we deserved to win because we were in our limits.
‘They had their best players, they had one more day rest, they were fresh.
‘I think I did very well because I had to manage a team with so many difficulties. I changed from the back five to the back four in the moment when I could. Then Dele Alli became the link.
‘The players [played with their] souls, and heart and gave absolutely everything. Four matches over two rounds, really hard for the boys. They deserve this happiness.’
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