Fears grow over Southampton defender after injury scare away on loan
Several Southampton players who were chucked out on loan during the summer transfer window are now shining with their new loan employers.
Cameron Archer is up to five goals for Auxerre already, after leaving St Mary's behind right as the brand-new Championship season kicked off.
Moreover, Jay Robinson is continuing to impress at AC Monza, far away from Tonda Eckert's men, with two Serie A goals under his belt under Ivan Juric's tutelage in Lombardy.
Joshua Quarshie is a forgotten face among all these notable loan departures, with the German centre-back still hopeful of a future on the South Coast, past his current loan stint with Sturm Graz.
The 22-year-old did worryingly come away from his last match with Fabio Ingolitsch's men with an injury problem, as the Austrian Bundesliga outfit now wait to see the full extent of the young centre-back's issue.
Quarshie's injury scare
Quarshie would play the full 90 minutes for his loan side against SV Ried at the weekend.
He impressed as well, with a forceful seven aerial duels won, as the final score ended in an action-packed 2-2 draw.
At the end of the game, the 6-foot-5 battler would experience a lot of discomfort, with the aforementioned Ingolitsch discussing Quarshie's injury set-back at the full-time whistle with Sky Sports Austria.
He said: "He’s in pain, but it seems that the ligaments are stable."
“We hope that he has not suffered any major damage.”
If he is out for a significant period of time, this will be extremely frustrating on the end of the lofty 22-year-old, as he had just gotten into his groove with Graz with regular gametime, after having to do with minimal scraps throughout his St. Mary's career to date.
Fingers crossed for his sake he hasn't suffered any major damage to his ankle, as he had been regularly featuring for the Blacks, and was sticking out as an enforcer in the heart of their defence.
Heading into the showdown with Ried, the brand-new number two was beginning to show why he should be a regular starter.
He would help Graz keep a clean sheet against Marseille in the Europa League, the match before they returned to the Austrian Bundesliga, as they beat the Ligue 1 giants 1-0, with Quarshie winning five aerial duels and registering five clearances to do his part.
He does only have one clean sheet next to his name in his fresh location from five league starts, but he was beginning to bloom at the Merkur Arena, which will make this ankle knock even more of a irritation to deal with.
At 22 years of age, he won't be written off on his return to St. Mary's, if he bounces back from this injury hurdle and shines long-term.
After all, both Keven Schlotterbeck and Jack Stephens are on the more senior side as Eckert's main centre-back duo, coming in at 29 and 32 years of age respectively.
He also hasn't looked completely out of his depth in the Championship, either, when he was used sparingly last season, with a competent 3.3 duels won on average from his 13 second tier outings to date.
He would a very impressive six duels against Wrexham last August, when Will Still was still in charge, leading to shouts that he is a "physical monster" from sections of the Saints fanbase on social media.
There's plenty to be worked on, so fingers will be firmly crossed he can brush off this injury scare speedily, with a viable path definitely there for him to make his mark in the Southampton first team.
