Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed that Lucas Paqueta will not be available for selection this weekend when Sunderland visit east London.
The Brazilian midfielder, who is hankering for a return to his home country and former club Flamenco has been out of action for a fortnight with a mystery "back injury".And having staged a meeting with Santo on Wednesday, the Head Coach confirmed the player would not be available for selection against the Black Cats this weekend.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Santo admitted that he would be without the services of Paqueta. "The situation is the same as last week," he confirmed.
"We hope that the club and Lucas find a solution. You know my opinion about Lucas, it's already been said in this room, but for this game against Sunderland he is not going to be in the squad.
"We have to deal with the Lucas situation day by day. All the things that happened in the past created so many problems individually. Now that is finished, like I said, I hope Lucas and the club find a solution so we can move forward from that issue."
Meanwhile Santo refused to comment on speculation linking James Ward-Prowse with a move to fellow relegation battlers Burnley, stating: "We are talking about rumours - and rumours are noise.
"Rumours are things that are not for us to address. When it's something real, we will address it. Rumours - what can I say about rumours?"
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