Saints once again play what is one of their more frequent pre season games when they make the short trip West to face AFC Bournemouth at the Goldsands Stadium.
Over the years Saints playing at Dean Court has been a regular friendly fixture, on several occasions it has been because Saints have answered the call for help from the club when they have been in financial difficulty and they have gone down to play a game to raise funds, on other occasions its been because a Cherries stalwart has had a testimonial, but mainly its been as it is today, because both teams need a good workout pre season with not too far to travel.
Some sections of the Bournemouth support have not always been appreciative of Saints efforts, indeed on one occasion causing controversy by disrupting a minutes silence for the Mayor Of Southampton who had been killed in a plane crash a few days earlier. But in the main most Bournemouth fans appreciate the close relationship between the two clubs and most Saints supporters have enjoyed seeing Bournemouth surge to their highest ever place in the echelons of English football.
So although tonight's game will probably not be a full blooded work out for either side it will be a step up for Saints both in terms of standard of opposition and in how they approach the game as they look to get the core of the squad match fit.
At Swindon on Monday the bulk of the substitutions were not made till the hour mark and its likely to be that way again tonight.
Saints should have a more complete squad available to pick from that before, Gaston Ramirez has returned from the World Cup and may be given a short work out and Artur Boruc is scheduled to play for his first pre season games amid rumours of a big signing coming in to replace him.
It will also be a chance for Saints supporters to watch Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pelle both of whom are expected to play and in the case of Tadic his first game on U soil.
One player who could also be featuring and whom will receive a rough ride from the full compliment of Saints supporters who snapped up the tickets is Dejan Lovren, whilst his future is uncertain he still remains a Saints player and he also needs to maintain his fitness levels after the World Cup so he too could get a work out.
The odd injury apart the only other squad member missing will be Morgan Schneiderlin who is not due back at the club till after the weekend.
With three weeks to go till the Premier season Saints will be a week behind their counterparts in the Cherries team tonight who kick off their season a week earlier, so for us its likely to be still more about getting a feel for the ball and the match situation than honing our formation and tactics, as in all pre season friendlies these days the result is of little significance its all about achieving key aims around fitness and formation.
So it will be another step forward in a pre season which will intensify in the next week or so with a trip to Brighton and the visit of Bayer Leverkusen, however the real work will be done at Staplewood and there may be a friendly or two behind closed doors in which perhaps Ronald Koeman will look to be getting the finer touches of the squad right, not to mention hopefully the introduction of a signing or two.