Saints managerial duo remain upbeat about the trip to Rovers, but do the fans ?
Saints major doubt for the game at Bristol is Andrew davies who suffered a dislocated jaw at Stoke on Tuesday, Saints are hoping that he will have recovered sufficiently to play and Davies is one of the most committed players in the squad so i wouldnt put it past him.
If Davies fails to pass muster then Wayne Thomas will slot into his position and being that this is a game likely to be played on a ploughed field of a pitch this might be his sort of game where saints will need strength and steel.
A surprise might be the return of Gregory Vignal, his arm has recovered well and he is considering playing with a protective cast, it might be however that it is a few days too early and Saints might wait until the Plymouth game and bring him in then.
Apart from that its probably going to be the same starting line up as at Stoke, the deadly duo hacve spoken of the need to start as they finished at Stoke, but they should take note that when a team like Saints can blow hot and cold so often and with us the worrying thing is its not just from week to week, as it was earlier in the season, its half to half at present, then the problem isnt the quality of the players its team selection, motivation and tactics.
So far D & G havent got it right in any of the games they have been in charge, too often we are relying on the same players that are letting us down week on week and leaving things too late in changing them, we have to be ruthless and find that concentration that has been lacking in recent games as personified by the six goals let in in the last two matches.
Rovers will be confident they can cause an upset, but in truth Saints should be too strong for them if they are properly prepared and remain focused on the task, its going to be a tough opening 30 minutes and Saints need to ensure that they dont concede and then they can start to impress themselves upon the game.
Ironically enough they perhaps need to look back to the last FA Cup visit to Rovers in 1978, then it was a heavy bobbly pitch and Rovers won it with two breakaway goals as Saints struggled to get their passing game together, Saints have to do what Rovers did to us then, dig in and get the ball out of defence quickly.
My only worry here is that if we play the same midfield as at Stoke then we have no pace in the side, nor any real width in midfield, however if Saints can stay strong then perhaps they could use BWP or Hammill coming off the bench to run at tiring Bristol legs.
Its going to be a difficult tie, but lets be blunt and with all due respect to Rovers, we would rather be away at Bristol Rovers, then visiting any of the other clubs left in the competition, we have a great chance to reach the quarter finals and we have a great chance to put some much needed money in the coffers.