This was perhaps the most eagerly anticipated match for Saints supporters since the moment the fixtures came out, but few thought that it would be so important.

When the Premier league fixtures came out last June this was perhaps the fixture that all Saints fans looked for, the return of current public enemy number 1 Mauricio Pochettino, back last summer there was a suspicion that he might be joined by a Saints player or two in Tottenham colours.

Ten months on and Saints season has panned out in a much better way than most Saints fans would have predicted, but Ronald Koeman showed that perhaps Pochettino had taken the club as far as he could, certainly I dont think the Argentinian could have rebuilt the squad and gelled it into a team that could challenge for the top four in such a way as Koeman has.

Therefore Saturday's game should not be about Mauricio Pochettino but about Ronald Koeman, whatever the result is the reality is that the Dutchman has not only played a big part in rebuilding the squad, but he has helped take it another step forward, the truth is Southampton Football Club is in a lot healthier position than it was a year ago.

So we have to concentrate on what we do best and not on Spurs, that means keeping it tight at the back and taking our chances when they come, there are those who say Spurs are no great shakes and I have to say sometimes it seems like that, they have scored more goals in the 90th minute or after than just about any other club and that is something we do have to watch out for from them.

But this is a winnable game, Newcastle a team in the middle of a slump ran them close last week and indeed Aston Villa won at White Hart Lane a fortnight ago, in fact Spurs recent form is not great, out of the last six games they have taken 10 points, a reasonable total, but when you look at who they have played then it puts it into perspective, that total was boosted by a 4-3 win against then bottom of the table Leicester at WHL and a 2-1 win at QPR, in short their 3 wins were against just about the most out of form teams in the country at time of playing.

So sometimes results do not tell the full story and that being the case Saints have nothing to fear, so we ned to use the energy that will be in evidence at St Mary's in a positive way and not let the hatred of Pochettino turn the atmosphere in their favour.

One of the keys will be whether Toby Alderweireld is fit again, if he is hopefully he will be used in his natural position in the centre of defence, the quadary for Ronald Koeman though is that the man he would normally replace Yoshida is in better form than Jose Fonte.

But now is the time for big decisions and if Alderweireld is fit we have to go for our best and strogest line up.

In midfield yes we could have done with Wanyama being available, but I don't think it is a big a loss as some would have you believe, with Spurs we need to get the ball down and play and that being the case having two holding midfielders might be excessive and counter productive.

Up front Pelle is going to play and some supporters have to deal with that and get behind him, Im sure he is desperate to score and prove some of his doubters wrong, if he does then it could prove the difference, the good thing is that we have good attacking options off the bench.

So tomorrow is our biggest game of the season so far and perhaps when we look back at the season will be seen as the most pivotal one of the entire 38 fixtures.

So lets get behind the team and enjoy playing for something other than avoiding relegation,Ronald Koeman has put us in a position to be competitive, lets savour the experience and help the team achieve perhaps even greater things.

Photo: Action Images

saintmark1976 added 17:28 - Apr 24 Usually I agree with your views most of the time Nick.Not today. Why is this game our biggest of the season? Does winning give us more than the usual three points? I would argue that our biggest game of the season may well of been lost on a wet night in Sheffied or for that matter a crisp Saturday afternoon against Palace. I accept that we have performed better than we expected at the start of the season.I admit to being one of the doubters in August.However, much like last season at Sunderland I can not help but feel that we let two good chances of winning something slip through our fingers again. Returning to tomorrow I just hope that our fans concentrate on the football rather than insults to MoPo.Somehow insulting the opposition just appears to motivate them more a la Brenda and Liverpool and old rubber face and Q P R.

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A1079 added 00:14 - Apr 25 I tend to agree with you Saintmark. For all the positives of the season, there has (as there are often in a season), other games where we have not performed at our best and the 2 cup games you have mentioned were a good opportunity missed. There have equally been other games recently, which if we had approached them in a better manner, had players that wanted to win, shown more motivation and been more tactically astute, may have gained us the points we would have needed and made tomorrows game less relevant. The hype around Pochettino is just that - hype. I didn't like the way he left, but then I was not comfortable with the manner he was brought in. He has moved on, we have moved on. He did well for us generally, we have done equally as well since. I have always hated Spurs and want to beat them whenever we play them, whoever is in charge but recent form against them has not reflected well on us and I fear that the emphasis placed on someone who has left us may detract again from the overall goal (pardon the pun). It is quite clear that RK fears too much misplaced emphasis is being made on our ex-manager. Anyway, lets hope that we put in a good performance and come away with a win.

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SanMarco added 08:14 - Apr 25 I wonder whether 'the game that most supporters most want to win' is a better phrase than 'biggest game of season'. I would agree with saintmark in that the Sheffield quarter final was certainly the game where I was most disappointed afterwards. It would be lovely to come above Spurs (and Liverpool please!) and we have had a very good season but 'biggest games'? I fear we have already had those...

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