TOBY Alderweireld insisted he had no hesitation in putting himself through excruciating pain to play in Saints’ 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

The Belgium international started the game despite having a broken bone in his shoulder after suffering the injury a week earlier at Stoke.

While he may only be on loan at Saints, from Atletico Madrid, Alderweireld’s commitment to the club was once again beyond question.

“I don’t want to make it bigger than it is, but I really want to play and help the team,” he said.

“I want to do everything I can on the pitch. I just wanted to play.”

Alderweireld, who played alongside Morgan Schneiderlin in defensive midfield, continued: “I had a lot of painkillers, but, because it is the bone, you can’t do anything.

“You can’t get an injection to the injury itself because that’s very dangerous, so you just go with the pain and focus the adrenaline.”

He added: “Everybody wants to play and, last week, I felt with my shoulder that maybe my season is over.

“So, yeah, I am happy that I just broke a bone and not all of my shoulder.

“The desire to play is very big and I want to help the team, even with pain.”

Explaining how he suffered the injury, the 26-year-old said: “It wasn’t dislocated, I just fell on my back and all of my weight went on my elbow and it shot up.

“It is difficult to explain, but the bone is broken.

“The muscles keep it glued together, so it can’t get worse even if you fall again on it.

“Of course it can get worse, but the risk is not so big, so it is just managing the pain and how I can go through that.”

Alderweireld is one of a number of players whose future beyond this season is uncertain, but he echoed the views of manager Ronald Koeman from last week – insisting the focus is on the last four matches and not transfer matters.

“Every player is focused and that’s the whole thing,” he said.

“Nobody is busy thinking about next season, just what happens now.

“We have enough to play for, so there is no problems.”

As for his own situation, Alderweireld explained: “It is not in my hand, I am focused on Southampton this season and I give everything.

“The rest is for after the season.”