 Friday, 17th Aug 2012 12:55 I have to say I look forward to our return to Premier football with a mixture of dread and anticipation, by 6pm Sunday I feel it will either be glory or utter devastation for Saints with no inbetween. Im trying to remain upbeat about our return to Premier action, but have to be frank and say that in all the seasons that I have supporterd Saints in top flight action, well over 30 campaigns, that this more than any other fixture has the potential to see us utterly routed. For many years especially in the 90's when the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal dominated we travelled away to those grounds with little hope of a win, as did many clubs in fairness, but we had some hope in that we knew we had a team full of players of premier standard who might just be able to sneak the odd result and every now and then we did. But with Sunday's trip its definately a tale of two different teams, on one hand we have the home side who not only start the season as Premier Champions, but come into their first home game of the campaign on the back of a record at the Etihad last season of winning 18 and drawing only 1, Sunderland being the only team to get a point there last season (perhaps wearing red & white stripes could be lucky for us . Doh !) Add to that a large strong squad that has not only stayed together from last season but now has the addition of Jack Rodwell from Everton and its hard to predict anything other than one result. I would love to find a ray of hope in this preview, but the fact is that in terms of proven track record City have everything and we barely have any premier experience of even playing in the Premier in our squad, yes Steven Davis did so for Fulham & Aston Villa, but his last game in the Premier was almost five years ago and a lot has changed there since. In short when trying to predict how our team will perform in the red hot atmosphere of the Etihad, we have little to go on and what we do have is not encouraging in that almost all of those with previous Premier experience played in relegated sides, all we have is optimism, the hope that some of our players will rise to the occasion and dig in and show the same sort of fight that QPR did on the final day last season when they came so near to causing a shock by beating City and costing them the title. But blind optimism is no way to predict a result for a team and looking at things with an unblinkered viewpoint, there can only be one result predicted, although the truth is most teams visiting City next season wont have much more hope than us of getting a result. On the plus point side, I would rather play City on the opening day then virtually any other, there is a slight chance that they may be caught in the aftermath of their title winning last day and that complacency might just set in, again its a slight chance but stranger things can happen in football. In some respects we are getting this game out of the way early, if we have to fight a relegation battle then i would rather play Stoke at home on the last day then go to the Etihad, that being the case we perhaps have to view this a little like we have the pre season games, Nigel Adkins will get some answers on the Premiership quality of some players. Like pre season it could also be said that the result doesnt matter, we are expected to lose so it has no bearing on the season, if we get beat we will be just one of a long line of victims there, alternatively if we should manage the almost impossible at least over the past few seasons and win the game then its no more of an indication that we are going to challenge for the Premier title than a defeat means that we are now sure to be relegated. So I think we have to approach this with a mindset that says this is the warm up for the rest of the season, that we will then have 37 games that are decidely more winnable than our opener whilst everyone else still has this pleasure to come, lets enjoy our return to the top flight, but look to the following weeks when we can, with the addition of a few crucial signings look to start clocking up the points and showing the rest of the division that despite what the bookies feel, we are not cannon fodder. From a team point of view, with only Jack Cork injured,I would expect Nigel Adkins to persevere with the 4-3-3 formation of pre season, after Kelvin Davis in goal I would expect a back four of Clyne, Hooiveld, Fonte & Fox, with a central midfield trio of Adam Lallana playing just in front of Morgan Schneiderlin and Steve Davis. With Rickie Lambert as the lone striker I think we will use Jay Rodriguez and Guly as wide midfield players with the job of not only getting forward to support Lambert but getting back and helping out their full backs. Key player Billy Sharp, if there is something to be got out of the game when he makes his appearance off the bench, then I think he could be the player to do it. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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