Usually playing a League One side in the Carabao Cup would see Saints put out a side with a few first choices sitting out the game, but with it being 6 weeks since our last game due to the World Cup, this game might be treated differently.

When Saints took on Sheffield Wednesday in the last round of the FA Cup, it was a very weakened side that took the field, only James Ward Prowse and Mohamed Salisu could be said to be nailed on first choices for a place in the starting line up.

But the situation was different then and the game was sandwiched between two League games, now Jones players need to get match fit again, whereas Alex McCarthy played against Wednesday, surely it will be Gavin Bazunu who will need to get his sharpness up to speed.

So Nathan Jones thinking for this game will be different from what it might have been, had he been in charge for that game.

Now this game is the first game back and a chance to fine tune the team before the important business of moving up the Premier League, starting with Brighton next Monday.

Saints don't seem to have played any form of friendlies in the last 6 weeks, or at least any they have announced, it seems that we did play Bristol City a couple of weeks back, at least according to the twitter feed of on of their players, but the club although very prominent in showing pictures from Staplewood or the training camp in Spain, haven't let on about any other games that might have been played behind closed doors.

So this game might well take on extra significance for Nathan Jones, he has been getting his squad used to the way he wants things to be going forward, so surely he will see this as the chance to use this game to fine tune the way we are going to play, in affect this is the same as the final friendly in the summer pre season, you want to get your players comfortable playing with each other.

So from this perspective there is no point in putting out a weakened side, we have 6 days rest after the visit of Lincoln and after a 6 week break and our players playing little part in the World Cup, we surely have a squad that is refreshed, fit and raring to go.

So those fans wanting to see how Nathan Jones will do things differently have the perfect chance to do so on Tuesday evening when Lincoln City arrive at St Mary's.

However unless there is a late walk up, it looks like there will be less at Nathan Jones first game at St Mary's, than there was for the Sheffield Wednesday tie, the day before he took over.

Back then there were 20, 457 at the game, so far I would estimate that there have been around 16,500-17,000 tickets sold in the home sections, Lincoln had sold around 1,300 tickets, so going into this morning the crowd looks like being around the 18-19,000 mark.

Tickets are available at £15 for adults and £5 for kids up to age 18, however this is the last day at that price and tomorrow on the day of the match both categories go up by £5, so if you are going to go, get your tickets today and save money.

General Sale:

Adults/Over 65/18-25: £15

Under 18/Under 11: £5

Matchday:

Adults/Over 65/18-25: £20

Under 18/Under 11: £10

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 11:09 - Dec 19 Not sure that we will see a full strength side (whatever that is), but with the U18/ B teamers getting so much publicity I expect to see some of the " youngbloods " getting game time. interesting to note that Burnley's last Championship game fielded a side without even having Tella on the bench....is he likely to be on recall from his loan?
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Block8 added 11:22 - Dec 19 First to answer underweststand, Tella was ill when they played Middlesborough, thats not to say he won't be back but I hope not for his sake! This should be treated like the last pre-season friendly, where we would play, pretty much, the starting line up for the first league game. I know we haven't played many warm up games but it is the perfect situation to start to gel in a new style & hopefully build confidence for Brighton. This isn't a must win game, however much we want to progress but staying in the premiership is far more important. So lets get behind whatever team starts and try to hold off on the negativity if its a bit disjointed! COYR

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saintmark1976 added 12:10 - Dec 19 Whilst staying in the Premiership may be considered very important it’s vital that the new manager hits the ground running, thus a win tomorrow is imperative and he should play what he considers to be his best team. A home defeat to Lincoln would send out all of the wrong vibes to the playing squad and fans alike. Ticket sales look poor but then again who is surprised given that the game is less than a week before Christmas during a cost of living crisis ? Once again S F C have not helped themselves by implementing a tiered pricing system meaning that you have to pay £20 for a ticket to watch on the day.

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wessexman added 14:23 - Dec 19 It is difficult to believe we never played any friendlies during the world cup. If we did, why the secrecy? I would like to see a strong side tomorrow. NJ and the team are going to have to hit the ground running. The next 6 or so league games will tell us where we are.
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underweststand added 12:11 - Dec 20 to wessexman .......apparantly Saints did play an unannounced "friendly " against a " Bournemouth squad " and Saints won 2-0 with goals from Walcott and Mara. ........with that scoreline I wish it had been a Prem. game.
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underweststand added 12:16 - Dec 20 to Block 8 ..thanks for the update , I missed it. Seems to be mixed reactions about a return, but I worry about the prospect of Tella scoring goals to help Burnley to win promotion - whilst we are treading water in the drop zone.
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