James Ward-Prowse suffered a cut to his leg and possible ligament damage during Southampton’s FA Cup clash at Tottenham on Wednesday. The midfielder had to be substituted five minutes before half time in the fourth round replay with an injury to his right leg following a tackle from Tottenham winger Ryan Sessegnon. The collision looked innocuous but Ward-Prowse’s team-mates and Sessegnon were immediately concerned for the 25-year-old.
Ward-Prowse had an impressive start to the match for Southampton, playing at right-back due to injury problems for Ralph Hasenhuttl.
BT Sport commentator Ian Darke said there was obvious concern for Ward-Prowse, who has won two caps for the senior England side.
And Darke said Sessegnon looked upset after the unfortunate incident.
“He’s been influential hasn’t he in that slightly unfamiliar role, the one that he filled at Anfield at the weekend,” Darke said.
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“There’s a cut, he’s obviously very swollen, and they’re talking about possible ligament damage,” he said.
“We hope that is not the case but they can’t really tell until the swelling goes down and assess it again.”
Ward-Prowse has been a regular for Saints this season, with Wednesday’s appearance being his 31st in all competitions.
He has spent the entirety of his professional career at St Mary’s, playing over 250 times for the Southampton first team.
Former Liverpool winger Steve McManaman was co-commentating on the match and shared the concern for Ward-Prowse.
“It doesn’t look great,” McManaman said.
“The oxygen’s out so let’s hope he’s okay. It was fairly innocuous wasn’t it, let’s hope the poor kid’s alright.”
Tottenham had taken the lead in north London after Southampton defender Jack Stephens deflected a Tanguy Ndombele shot into his own net.
But Shane Long grabbed a deserved equaliser for the visitors after Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was unable to hold onto a Nathan Redmond shot.
The winner of the tie will be at home to the Premier League’s basement club Norwich in the fifth round in the first week of March.
