Saints travel to the midlands knowing that things are starting to get tight in the top six and they need to get a few more wins under their belts.

No one said it would be easy but reality is starting to bite as Saints have seen an advantage thrown away over the last few weeks meaning that now they have no leeway, its keep winning or bust if they want European football next season be it Champions league or otherwise.

Therefore the visit to the Hawthorns is now crucial, a win could see us jump back to third, whereas defeat could see us slip to sixth with Tottenham and even West Ham suddenly breathing down our necks.

However Saints now have one thing going back in their favour and that is players returning from injury and that could be crucial from an attacking point of view.

Ronald Koeman now has an abundance of riches to call upon and our bench should now begi n to resemble a Premier league club again rather than the academy five a side team.

This being the case team selection is going to be a nice headache for the manager and he may be able to give a break to a player or two who have soldiered on over the past two months without respite due to a lack of available replacements.

From a form point of view West Brom have picked up in recent weeks and will be difficult to break down as has proved the case in the last three games against them and if we can get an early goal tomorrow it would not only be a big morale booster but give us some breathing space and the room to play some football rather than worrying about scoring.

The restoration of the Victor Wanyama/ Morgan Schneiderlin partnership from the off could be crucial and that foundation will hopefully give Saints the breathing space in the centre of the park to get the attacking player on the ball and creating chances.

Saints are more than capable of winning this game and winning it well and if they do so and follow it up with a victory against Palace then it will be a big boost before the trip to Chelsea.

Sometimes in football though you need an edge and this season it seems that when we have had points in hand we have lost games we should have won, but when the chipsare down we pull something extra out, hopefully we willdo so again and hopefully it will be at West Bromwich Albion.

Photo: Action Images

FrankSaint added 20:54 - Feb 27 So who to perm? If Wanyama and Schneiderlin both start someone else has to go. Ward-prowse or Davies? One of the two serbs? Will it be Pelle and Long together up front in a 4-2-2-2 or a 3-5-2? There's more perms here than in the 70s.
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