Will Alan Pardew play a team with Wembley in mind.

Alan Pardew has a dilemma, what side should he put out to face hartlepool tonight, on one hand there are those that say a play off spot is still just about achievable, that being the case then he has to play his strongest side and go for it till its mathematically impossible, Millwall are a good example in that they have won I think nine out of their last ten, and if Saints did that then it would give us 77 points, perhaps enough to sneak a play offspot, however those that harbour those hopes would do well to remember that for Saints to succeed, Colchester currently in six would need to only pick up 14 points in their last ten, in truth four wins for the Essex club in those games would probably put them out of Saints reach when you add a few draws.

So if Pardew accepts promotion is now a pipe dream, what does he do about tonights side, the obvious option would be to pick those that are likely to play at Wembley to give them time to gel, however that could have its drawbacks, if you played these players and they got injured then we would be short in certain areas on Sunday, so Pardew will probably go with his first choice side to cover both bases.

If Saints having something to play for is questionable, for the visitors its certainly not the case, they sit only two points above the relegation zone, their last 12 games has seen them pick up only nine points, home victories over lowly Southend and ironically Sundays opponents Carlisle being the only three point hauls, this game in hand would drag them well clear if they could win it and they would hope to catch Saints with their minds on Wembley.

Hartlepool's fans will certainly be welcome at SMS though, the 900 or so Saints supporters who were up in the north east back in November were given a very hospitable time and although the visitors wont be so plentiful tonight, those that make the trip will be treated with a friendly welcome.

A win for Saints will just about keep the promotion dream alive, however with Colchester's next two game being Brentford & Wycombe at home, we have to look there for at least one upset and then for Exeter to beat them away, if they pick up less than five points in those three games and Saints win their trio of fixturesthen we might be able to start dreaming  

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