SAINTS boss Ivan Juric hopes to have Flynn Downes available again when they welcome Brentford to St Mary's next week.

Downes missed the game at Palace with a dead leg having left the field on the hour mark against former club West Ham on Boxing Day after suffering a whack.

The midfielder was in attendance and hobbling at Selhurst Park as Southampton suffered a 2-1 defeat, Eberechi Eze winning the game in the second half.

Asked if Saints missed the presence of Lesley Ugochuckwu - who dropped to the bench - and Downes, Juric told the Daily Echo: "Yes, I think so.

"We played with (Joe) Aribo and Mateus (Fernandes) and for this game, I think it will be better to have others, no?

"Like a characteristic of even Mateus, he did play very good in the second half. With Lesley, it was much better and we're missing Downes, no?

"Lesley hasn't played a lot lately and I was scared of injuries because he suffered in the past but he played a very good 40 minutes.

Asked if Downes could return to face Brentford in Southampton's first game of 2025, the Croatian said: "I hope so, yes."