For the 43rd game running we present the most important game of the season.

After pulling a result out of the hat down at Brighton, Saints now need to keep on doing what they have been keeping on doing at St Mary's by beating Hartlepool and then hoping that Huddersfield crack against Dagenham.

Nigel Adkins has a few decisions to make after picking a side to beat the Seagull's he now perhaps has to consider a few amendments for what on paper should be an easier task.

First decision to make will be Adam Lallana, should he be started ? I would say no, of course he makes the team tick as he did when he came on against the Seagulls, but the fact is we need to keep him fit, so I would resist temptation and keep him on the bench for emergencies, in fact I would tend to keep basically the same side from Saturday, the starting XI earned the chance to play again, so I wouldnt tinker with it leaving Lallana and Connolly on the bench to come on as and when they are needed in the game.

Although I suspect one change that will be made is to rest Jaidi, two games in the space of three days may be a little bit too much for him, so probably better to rest him, most would probably like to see Martin given a run out, but truthfully Seaborne has come off the bench at crucial times in recent weeks and done a job so it is probably fair that he ggets the chance to show what he can do.

Saints dont want to throw the good work from Saturday away now, so need to get an early goal to release the tension and get the crowd a little relaxed and in good voice, Hartlepool are a side whose record away from home matches their league position winning six, drawing five and losing ten so far as they visit us for their penultimate away game, surprisingly though they dont seem to score on the road, they have netted 15 times, the lowest total in the division although in conceding 31 they have a better defensive record than most in the division on the road.

What we dont want to allow them to do though is park the bus, the longer the game goes on without us scoring the tighter they will become, in the last couple of home games Saints have won but have struggled to break down the opposition, we need to start taking our chances and getting the game sewn up early on.

Three wins would see us promoted, its important to get one of them today and keep the pressure on Huddersfield, we dont want to allow them any rays of hope, in fact ideally we would get Hartlepool on the rack and let the news filter through to Huddersfield and affect their performance, 2nd place is ours to lose, we have come a long way and battled hard to put ourselves in the driving seat, lets not blow it now.     

Photo: Action Images

splurty added 12:07 - Apr 25 Yes COYMIGHTYREDS 3 points is ALL that matters now !!
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