(Reuters) - Southampton will assess Danny Ings' fitness ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to basement side Fulham, but manager Mark Hughes said on Thursday that the striker is a big doubt.
Ings limped off the pitch with a suspected hamstring problem during Southampton's 1-1 league draw with Watford earlier this month and trained separately during the international break.
"Danny is the big doubt at the moment. He's only just got out on the grass so maybe tomorrow we might be able to integrate him into the group. As we stand, he has to be a doubt," Hughes told a news conference.
Winger Mohamed Elyounoussi and midfielder Mario Lemina will also be monitored carefully ahead of match at Craven Cottage.
"Elyounoussi has tightness in his hamstring and Lemina has an issue with his thigh which we've been managing for a number of weeks and we've just got to keep an eye on it," Hughes said.
Hughes is keen to arrest Southampton's slide, with the 17th-placed club seeking a first win in nine games yet a blunt attack and leaky defence have not helped their cause.
"Some of the problems that were there last year are still there and we're still addressing them, we're getting better at the things were trying to do in my view," Hughes said.
British media reports have said that Hughes has one game to save his job.
"There will always be speculation, I call it noise... at the moment the noise is around me, it's the nature of the role... the only way it goes away is by getting positive results and positive performances."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)