Saints have come a long way this season and its time to put in that final effort that will make sure that all the hard work doesnt come to nothing, starting at London Road tonight.

There is no reason for Saints to have any fear travelling to Peterborough tonight, League tables dont lie at this stage of the season and we are in the top two whereas the Posh are in the lower half of mid table not having troubled either the promotion race nor the relegation dogfight.

As always they have a good home record based on scoring goals, but that home record is based on winning games (10) and not drawing many (2), however they have lost almost as many as they have won (9), yes they have scored quite a few, 38 in total, but when you realise that 25 of these were scored in their first ten home fixtures dating back to the first week in December, you realise that they are not the free scoring team that they were in the first half of their home fixtures, managing only 13 in the last 12 games, defensively they have been a little tighter in that time, they conceded 19 at home in those first ten games, but in the last dozen only 14, it seems a trip to London Road isnt the high scoring goal fest that it was earlier in the season or indeed last term.

So Saints first job is to not concede, this has been a problem in recent weeks, our last four games have seen us let in 8 goals and that includes 5 in our last two home games from only 8 shots on target, what this is telling us is that in general our defence is tight, but it is prone to errors and lapses in concentration, we have to eradicate this in the last three games, to be blunt if we let in five goals inn the last three games then there is a good chance we wont be promoted, we have to build our foundation from the back and if we do we have the firepower to score goals.

So the message is that Peterborough will probably play a similar game to Reading they will keep it tight at the back and look for the chances that come their way and look to take them, our task is to make sure they dont and punish them when we get our chances.

Nigel Adkins doesnt need to make many changes to the side that lost to Reading, in fact in my mind he only has two to consider, the first is who to play on the right side, Richard Chaplow or Guly, or perhaps take a gamble on Jason Puncheon, my money would be on Guly, the man had a great first half of the season when he was one of the leading scorers in the league and high in the assists table, sadly some of our fans have got on his back and this along with never knowing whether he would be up front or in midfield from one week to the next hasnt helped him, but he does have the guile needed to open up a tight home defence.

The other decision might be needed if Schneiderlin is fit, does he reinstate him and if so is it Cork or Hammond that makes way.

On the bench its probably going to be pretty much the same, Lee Barnard is likely to be missing due to his court appearance and I personally would go for an attacking line up.

Steve De Ridder is still worth his place on the bench, but after another damp squid against Reading you have to question whether we would be better putting Puncheon on, De Ridder now has a trademark get the ball run forward ten yards, stop turn around run in a circle and then pass it back ten yards to the player who gave you the ball in the first place, football is about end product and for all his bluster he is not delivering, given that Guly or Chaplow will be a given on the bench depending on who starts, will Nigel Adkins decide to gamble on Puncheon at the expense of De Ridder.

Of course this is now a must win game, it shouldnt be and wouldnt be if we had won a few more must win games out of the 42 that we have played so far, every game for a football club is must win, the only difference between this one and say Doncaster back in November is that we can now clearly see the consequences if we dont win it.

Saints need to step out and win this game like the top two side that we are, the season is still in our hands, lets make sure it still is come the end of this evening.

Photo: Action Images

johnthesaint added 10:07 - Apr 17 I agree with Guly on the right instead of Chaplow. As much as I admire his passion and vigour, he was like a loose canon against Reading and not particularly productive. Now is not the time to get on Guly's back. He and the rest of the team need our full support. In Nigel we trust. Massive game tonight and anything less than 3 points would leave me with a bit of a bum twitch for the remaining 2 games....

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TimSaint added 10:44 - Apr 17 The right side of midfield has been a problem area for us for long parts of the season and I am not sure if NA knows what is best here. At the start he had Guly who was fab there, then Chappers was superb until his injury at Bristol City, but since then, we simply cannot get it right on the right !! Guly is a luxury player that we struggle to accommodate at home, so should definitely not be in the starting X1 away from home. Of course he was fantastic at the start of the season, but is totally off the boil and has been played in too many positions from the bench. Puncheon is no longer match fit and to be fair, has had too many chances to prove himself and has failed miserably. Leeds, Hull etc..... Steve de Ridder as you say, does his trademark moves, is not very direct and does not use his only asset, his pace, in the right channels. He also does not know when to shoot or cross. Chaplow is our best option for tonight. He gives us much more shape, which will be needed especially in the first half. He has pace, gets into scoring positions and gels much better with our full back. Additionally, just like last season, he has a big point to prove tonight. In Fergie Jnr, he is up against his former Preston Boss who found him surplous to requirements - so Chappers will be well up for it. Cue some mind games / whinging / moaning / excuses / drivel from Fegie Jnr

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SanMarco added 10:58 - Apr 17 I fear that Chappers is a red card waiting to happen at the moment (perhaps due to him being a bit off the pace since he came back) - he was a bit lucky not to go against Reading with that slide on the keeper (I am not saying he should have gone but he certainly gave the ref the option to say the least) and he has issues with Ferguson (and his dive for the penalty at P'Boro last year would have got a second yellow if the ref had got it right). Instead I would give de Ridder his chance...

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bstokesaint added 12:29 - Apr 17 Whatever we do we need to get Lambert involved and in shooting positions. Everyone was bemoaning the Saints' defensive lapses against Reading, but personally I think it was also down to the quality of crossing. It was woeful, and that was why our dominance counted for so little as much as anything else. Fox and Butterfield need to put the keeper under more pressure with balls into the box. Is Richardson fit yet? He is by far the better right back if you're looking for someone to deliver quality in the penalty area. In terms of who is to play on the right, whoever does it needs to step up to the plate. As has correctly been noted no-one has successfully filled this role for a while now. I still like SdR, he just needs to get to that line and deliver. He has the pace and the gusto. I don't want to contemplate anything other than a win tonight. The worst thing is it may need to be a good win at that and I know Peterborough love getting men behind the ball. West Ham managed to unlock them (presumably with a more direct route), but Reading failed. Maybe we can take something from that when setting out our game plan.

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BlackRod added 12:47 - Apr 17 I hope to see Chappers in the starting lineup. He brings energy and gets into scoring positions. As well as scoring himself Rickie is pretty good at laying the ball off for others to score. Adam usually benefits from this but hasn't quite been in the groove of late. Chappers is the other player who looks for these touches and as he gets fitter will be able to take advantage of them. The stats show that we have a much better points to games ratio when he's playing.

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st_bangkok added 13:39 - Apr 17 How about a right side of Butters and Fraser?
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saintjeff52 added 16:18 - Apr 17 Keep calm everyone. Saints to beat P'boro, M'boro, and Coventry. - 91 points, Champions. Reading to beat Forest,and Palace, but lose to Brum. - 91 points, second on goal difference. Third, who cares ! Just keep on listening to the media talking up Reading and ' the only team in the league', Hammers. After all, we are one of the other 23 teams making up the numbers aren't we ? Just enjoy the next 12 days.

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