Pratley is sidelined for up to 10 weeks following the injury he picked up in the win over Preston on Tuesday night.
But Roberto is confident that his side can cope without one of their players of the season and told the Evening Post “I have got great trust in my players, and I know we have people who can come in and help us win matches at this level.
“It’s impossible to replace Darren, who has taken his game on to a different level this season, but I believe we can achieve the same standards with different qualities on the pitch.
“In football you need to be ready to lose players through injury, and I know my squad is ready to cope. I have frustrated players who are desperate to come in and maintain our standards, and we have a number of people who can play in central midfield.
“We have Owain Tudur Jones, Guillem Bauza, Kris O’Leary, Joe Allen, Leon Britton, even Andrea Orlandi can play there.
“We are not a normal team who start the season with 11 players and then go into the loan market when an injury comes. That’s not the way we work.
“We work with 24 or 25 players playing in a certain way and you need to be at the club for five or six weeks to know how we do things.
“That’s why there’s no point bringing anyone in to replace Darren, because by the time they have got used to things he will almost be back.
“We have reached the stage of the campaign where everyone is scrapping for points.
“Southampton are a very good footballing side who never give up, as they proved by coming back from 2-0 down at Norwich on Tuesday to earn a point.”
