With our recent resurgence and with a two week break looming, Saints have no excuse to put out a weakened side against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup, this is a competition we could go far in.
Ralph Hasenhuttl indicated that he might rest a player or two against Crystal Palace, in the end he didn't rotate as much as some would thought, but the fact that he rested Danny Ings perhaps suggested that he was holding back the striker for Saturday's game.
The three points at Palace really took the pressure off Saints and took us to within perhaps two wins of safety and an 8 point gap between us and the bottom three meaning we can take the cup a little more seriously than others in the Premier League who are either more concerned about relegation or fighting hard in Europe and have played far more games than the rest.
Saints now have only two games in the next three weeks due to the staggered winter break, the Spurs cup game and a trip to Anfield and then they have a two week rest before taking on Burnley on the 15th February.
Tiredness therefore should not be an issue in selecting a team for this game and although we can perhaps make changes we do not need to make many
A good cup run will not only bring in income, but could perhaps see us reach an FA Cup Final for the first time in 17 years and only the 3rd time since the Victorian era and if we won it we would also be in Europe, so there is plenty to play for.
If Saints can beat Spurs they will knock out a major challenger for the trophy and with several Premier League clubs already out and 3 other's guaranteed to go out due to all Premier League ties, the competition could start to open out if we then got a favourable draw for the 5th round which will not be played till the first week in March.
By then the European competitions will have resumed meaning that the clubs involved in that will be playing a lot of games in March and will have to prioritise a little more, so we have a great chance going forward if we dispose of Tottenham on Saturday.
So Ralph Hasenhuttl has to pick his best team and get it ready for two games and then it can rest.