Jay Rodriguez praised after successful Southampton return from serious knee injury

Jay Rodriguez was ruled out for 16 months with a serious knee injury

SOUTHAMPTON assistant manager Erwin Koeman has hailed the return of forward Jay Rodriguez after 16 months on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.

 

Rodriguez made his first Premier League appearance since being carried off on a stretcher against Manchester City in April 2014 as his side started the season with a 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

The 26-year-old England international missed a scoring chance in the first half but showed plenty of encouraging signs before being replaced by Shane Long in the 65th minute.

Koeman said: “I think for him it was a big victory to start because he had trained for six weeks already with us and he made some minutes so he was ready for it. But after that long period of being out for maybe 15 or 16 months, I have to say he played very well.”