Claude Puel has revealed that Jay Rodriguez is set to miss the next three games through injury – but added that he should return after the October international break.

Puel also stated that £16m record signing Sofiane Boufal, who signed from Lille in the summer transfer window, will be assessed in the coming weeks as he works towards his Saints debut after arriving at the club with a knee injury.

Rodriguez is recovering from a groin injury which he picked up during his goalscoring cameo in the 3-0 Europa League win over Sparta Prague last week at St Mary's.

He has subsequently missed victories over Swansea City in the Premier League and Crystal Palace in the League Cup.

But it seems he won’t be back quickly after having an operation on the problem.

And Puel must now plan for the punishing fixture pile-up with Rodriguez’s absence in mind.

"We have no new injuries, just a groin injury for Jay Rodriguez,” he said.

"He will come back after the international break. Boufal continues his work, we will see for him after the international break perhaps."

It will keep him out of Sunday’s trip to West Ham, the trip to Israel to face Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Europa League and the visit to Leicester City a week Sunday.

However, it is expected that he’ll be nearing or ready for a return for Saints’ match against Burnley at St Mary’s in three weeks time.

Rodriguez has battled with serious injuries for the past two years and, after a bright start to the season,is once again having to put football to one side and focus on fitness concerns.

The 27-year-old scored against Sunderland in August and netted his second of the season in Saints’ opening Europa League game eight days ago.

Meanwhile, Puel feels Saints are adapting well to his style of play after three straight wins.

The French boss changed Saints’ style of play as soon as he arrived at the club.

The diamond 4-4-2 that is now deployed was an alien formation to the players after nearly three seasons playing 4-2-3-1.

Some of their early performances reflected that.

However, Puel believes that the players are now settling in well with how he likes to play.

“We can see good work in the training sessions and good work for every game,” he said. “We are strong in defence and we have good possibilities on the counterattack.

“We play good football with different players on the pitch and this is very important because all the squad take confidence and it shows that it is possible to play many games.

“We change the starting team every time and this is very interesting for the squad – it keeps a good energy.

“All this is positive, but now we must continue the good work and now three games away is very difficult.”