Southampton: Maya Yoshida ruled out for six weeks

Maya Yoshida

Southampton defender Maya Yoshida has been ruled out for the next six weeks with a knee injury, but will return in time for Japan's World Cup campaign.

Yoshida, 25, picked up a knee ligament injury in training and is set to miss the last seven Premier League matches.

But Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino expects him to be available for the World Cup which starts on 12 June.

"I went through a similar situation and injury, and I went on to play at the World Cup," the Argentine said.

"Maya has a problem with his knee ligaments, so we expect he'll be out for six weeks."

Southampton signed Yoshida from Dutch Eredivisie side VVV-Venlo on a three-year deal in August 2012.

The centre-back has been capped 35 times by his country and captained Japan to fourth at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, scoring in their 3-0 last-eight win over Egypt.