Saints take on Shrewsbury Town at St Mary's this evening in the 3rd round of the FA Cup looking to have a good run in the competition, but an unprecedented injury list means that it will be a mix and match side and Ralph Hasenhuttl will need to shield some players.

The problem for Ralph Hasenhuttl will not just be that he has so many out injured, but that in some positions he has no cover left available, that means he has to decide whether to risk certain players or hold them back.

That decision is made harder by the fact that the Austrian doesn't know at the start of the game whether he will have to put out a side at the weekend, if Saints beat the Shrews then they will play Arsenal in the FA Cup, if they lose then initially at least they will have a spare Saturday, but the likelihood is that the Premier League will reschedule the trip to Leeds United, a game that was postponed from tomorrow evening to fit this FA cup game into the schedule.

The real issue is that a good side has a strong spine and Saints were missing that spine, of the four players who most Saints fans would consider the contenders for player of the season, only James Ward Prowse will probably play, the other three, Jannik Vestergaard, Oriol Romeu & Danny Ings were missing for the defeat at Leicester and all are likely to be out again tonight.

Most Premier League teams could not cope with losing their 3 most influential players, Saints have done well to cope without at least two of them sometimes all three over the past month.

In goal I would suspect that Fraser Forster might play, Alex McCarthy is only just back from a bout of Covid 19 and Forster needs game time.

In defence he has Kyle Walker-Peters, Yan Valery, Ryan Bertrand, David Agbontohoma, Jake Vokins, Jan Bednarek, Jack Stephens, Kayne Ramsay & Allan Tchaptchet to select from.

At full back he has two choices for each position, on the right side he could play either first choice Kyle Walker Peters or Yan Valery, but I have a feeling that he might play both, with Valery being employed in a right sided midfield role as he was in the latter part of the win over Liverpool.

In the centre literally the only fit central defenders he has are Bednarek & Stephens, if one of them were to be injured it would be a catastrophe in that Jannik Vestergaard is still several weeks from full fitness and there do not seem to be any youngsters knocking on the door just yet.

A surprise inclusion may be 19 year old Allan Tchaptchet, the French centre back has played for the B team and could be handed a debut alongside either Stephens or Bednarek.

The other option is David Agbontohoma, also 19 he too has played for the B team.

On the left side with Jake Vokins being needed to play for the suspended Ryan Bertrand in the next Premier League game played I would expect him to reprise the role he played in the 3rd round last year when Huddersfield were despatched, hopefully he can reprise the superb goal he scored.

In midfield Ralph has a relative luxury compared to the defence, he could play a strong midfield 4 of Ibrahima Diallo, James Ward-Prowse, Theo Walcott & Stuart Armstrong, but I suspect as I mentioned earlier that he will utilise Yan Valery on the right hand side, other than that the only other players are all from the Academy, Alex Jankewitz, Kegs Chauke, Caleb Watts, Lucas Defise & Pascal Kpohomough, I would be lying if I said I knew anything about them.

Up front there are options, Che Adams, Shane Long & Dan N'lundulu have all featured in the Premier League of late, but I have a feeling that it will be Adams rested and the experience of Long paired with the youth of N'Lundulu.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Danny Ings make an appearance on the bench for insurance purposes, but unless needed I wouldn't think he would play a part.

Whatever is the final decision in the starting line up, the bench will look more like the audience of 1970's children's show Crackerjack than a Premier League bench.

Shrewsbury will not have prepared well for this game, their Covid outbreak that knocked the heart out of their squad means that they haven't played since December 29th and they haven't had much time as a squad to train either, add to that manager Steve Cotterill went down with a serious dose of Covid 19 last Friday that hospitalised him and saw him in intensive care over the weekend and they possibly have a few more problems than we do.

Usually Ralph Hasenhuttl has looked for a good cup run, last season he put out strong sides, but tonight will be more mix and match than he would perhaps have liked, but he will see the cup as a realistic opportunity for glory and if he can get the side through tonight and the subsequent tie at the weekend with Arsenal, then he will have some respite and hopefully get some of those missing players back in action.

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Photo: Action Images

Boris1977 added 10:56 - Jan 19 I'm very surprised that the FA have insisted this game goes ahead for a number of reasons. Pretty ridiculous.
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NewburySaint added 11:14 - Jan 19 Yup, I hear what you’re saying Boris but I’m not surprised-if it had been 1 of the “bigger” clubs I think it would be a different story though.
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SaintPaulVW added 11:31 - Jan 19 IMO Valery looks a better winger than a full back. He's great going forwards. If he plays there tonight, I hope he takes his chance. With both Redmond and Djenepo out, there is a definite role he could take on.
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underweststand added 11:37 - Jan 19 ...and a last chance for Josh Sims to get game time and maybe impress Ralph, before he goes off to wherever it is that he will play for the rest of the season and see out is contract... One of the best of his generation..... and we're letting him go ...(sad)
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Boris1977 added 12:03 - Jan 19 Agree weststand. How him and Ralph don't click is odd. He should be on par with Che Adams in terms of the pecking order for attacking players and ahead of the the other options we currently have available. Strange.
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highfield49 added 12:42 - Jan 19 Personally I'd play Adams and give him the opportunity to bag some goals and the confidence that comes with hitting the net. N'Lundulu would clearly also benefit from a decent run out and 45mins each could be an option if the goals are forthcoming first half.
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TimSaint added 16:00 - Jan 19 Boris1977 - you really have Sims ahead of Walcott and Armstrong in your pecking order for attacking players ? Curious as to why you believe a player who only returned from a loan in League 1 two days ago, can suddenly be ahead of a current Scottish International and an ex-England International. Personally I would put him on the bench and look to give him a run out for say, the last 20 mins - depending on how the game / score is going, but I would be wary that he has had little time to fit in to RH's way of thinking and playing.

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KriSaint added 17:29 - Jan 19 My starting 11: (If Tella is fit, I'd play him in stead of Valery). Forster Kyle W. P. Bednarek Stephens Vokins JWP Diallo Valery Armstrong Che Adams Dan N'lundulu Bench: Lewis Ings Sims Jankewitz Chauke Kpohomough Watts Defise COYR <3
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KriSaint added 17:30 - Jan 19 + Long
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Boris1977 added 18:15 - Jan 19 TimSaint, I'd put Sims ahead of Long and Obafemi. Certainly not ahead of Armstrong but ahead of Walcott? If Sims had been given the opportunity that Walcott had I'd I think he'd be a better option with a more effective end product.
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TimSaint added 02:01 - Jan 20 Sims is cup tied, having played in earlier rounds for Doncaster. Let's see if he (hopefully) impresses enough to get a spot on the bench v Arsenal next Tuesday / Saturday.
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