Kyle Walker-Peters, a Saints mainstay, is expected to miss the visit to Birmingham City due to injury

Kyle Walker-Peters, a Saints mainstay, is expected to miss the visit to Birmingham City due to injury.

The 26-year-old will miss Championship minutes for the first time this season after being substituted early at Liverpool.

Walker-Peters, who was substituted for himself in the second half, was replaced less than 20 minutes later in the 3-0 loss.

However, manager Russell Martin insists that the report on Walker-Peters is favorable, and that he will not be out for an extended period of time.

Martin stated: “He won’t be out for long; I believe tomorrow will be a stretch. The 26-year-old will miss Championship minutes for the first time this season after being substituted early at Liverpool.

“But Kyle had incredibly fantastic news. He hopes to be part in one of the two events that follow, if not both.

“If not, he will definitely be back after the break so it was fairly positive news.”

Saints will play Birmingham on Saturday before hosting Preston North End and Sunderland next week at St Mary’s.

Ryan Lowe visits Preston on Wednesday, while Sunderland travels to the south coast on Saturday.

Saints will take an extended international break following the Sunderland game due to Leicester City’s FA Cup progression.

Championship action returns on Friday, March 29, with a visit from Middlesbrough, giving Saints three consecutive home games.

James Bree will most certainly replace Walker-Peters this weekend, with Martin saying, “I felt he was terrific.

“I really loved his performance, especially given that he had been out for quite some time.

It was fantastic to do so at Anfield in his first game back. I’m pretty pleased with all of them.

“The only disappointing thing was the result because I felt even better about the performance after watching it back.”