Ralph Hasenhuttl may have had some pre match criticism on Wednesday for his team selection for the tie against West Ham, but it turns out that not all of the changes were by choice.
Aside from the likes of Nathan Tella Lyanco & Alex McCarthy, Saints have four new injury issues as they go into an important game up at Aston Villa, two of which were picked up in the game at Villa Park.
Shane Long came off at half time against the Hammers and could miss out on the game, but the departure of Kyle Walker Peters early in the second half was more about injury that tactical, he was suffering from a hamstring issue although hopefully he came off before any real damage and may be able to feature.
But two of the missing players also had injuries, Mohammed Salisu was feeling his hamstring so was not risked and also Moi Elyounoussi with a heel issue was missing.
Ralph Hasenhuttl had this to say ahead of the game:
"I don't know exactly how it looks. Longy [Shane Long] was brought off at half time, Kyle [Walker-Peters] had a little problem with his hamstring, that's the reason we subbed him.
"We have problems with Sali [Mohammed Salisu] with his hamstring and Moi [Elyounoussi] with his heel.
"A few issues, we will have a look and if they are ready for the weekend."
All four have been key players of late, however whilst last season having 7 players out would have been a big problem, this season we have a far stronger squad.
The absence of Shane Long will be a blow, he has become in cricketing terms our "Death Bowler" the man that comes in at the end not to perhaps take wickets, but to ensure that not too many runs are scored.
That is Long's role now, a cameo role at the end to harass the opposition back line and to hold the ball up and draw fouls to take the sting out of the game when we are looking to hold a lead.
Ralph still has his three striking options in Armando Broja, Che Adams & Adam Armstrong available.
The loss of Kyle Walker Peters would also be a blow, but Tino Livramento is a class act at right back and Romain Perraud has shown he has what it takes at this level, in the full back department we are blessed.
The injury to Moi Elyounoussi will also be a blow, he has been in fine form of late, but again we have plenty of other options in that department, Nathan Redmond has been a key player in providing assists to others and his shot that rattled the bar against West Ham showed he can still threaten the goal, we also have Theo Walcott, Will Smallbone, ^ Moussa Djenepo.
But the big loss would be Mohamed Salisu, already a candidate for player of the year, he has made himself the number 1 central defender and has been key to our success over the past few months.
Again we have plenty of options to replace him, Jack Stephens & Jan Valery did a job on Wednesday, both have different attributes and could slot in.
A year ago it was common for us to have 7 injuries and we struggled to cope, now we have a squad that can do so as was shown when a side containing 9 fringe players performed so well against a virtual full strength West Ham side.
I would contend that that starting line up against West ham was better than the first team starting XI's we were putting out in the second half of the 2017/18 season when we almost sunk into relegation.