| Southampton 4 v 0 Walsall FA Cup Saturday, 6th January 2024 Kick-off 15:00 |  |
Southampton V Walsall The Preview Friday, 5th Jan 2024 07:45 Saints take on Walsall in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, the question is who will be in the Saints starting line up and will they take the opportunity to rest a few players after a tough last 5 weeks or so. The answer to the above question I would say is yes, although there will be a core of the side who have been regulars in the Championship, I would suggest that this is a good opportunity for Russell Martin to give a run out to some of the fringe players in the squad. The real big question though is Mason Holgate, the loanee from Everton has been ignored by Russell martin over the past two months and any hopes he may have harboured of some game time over Xmas were dashed when the manager preferred to jump Jack Stephens back into the first team ahead of him.
Everton don't seem to be keen on taking him back and although the player himself will be keen to get game time, the difficulty is that Everton would struggle to find another club who would be willing to pay what Southampton have to secure his services, Sean Dyche is clearly no lover of Holgate and with Everton's well documented cash flow issues, they may find not be keen to recall Holgate and then loan him out at anywhere near the financial deal they have struck with Saints. If Holgate doesn't make the starting line up then that will be a clear indication of his future at St Mary's personally I would prefer to see him stay, we will not be able to get a replacement anywhere near his quality. So Holgate aside who would I expect to see play. In goal I think will be Joe Lumley, Alex McCarthy has not been seen since he was on the bench at Huddersfield and has only played once this season, in the 3-1 debacle at Gillingham.
So I expect Lumley to start. In defence Holgate apart I would expect to see Jack Stephens given a full game but who would partner him is difficult, This is a game you would want to rest Bednarek & Harwood Bellis, but without Holgate we are strapped for a partner, perhaps Shea Charles will have to step into the breach. The full back spots are also hard, resting both KWP & Manning will be on Russell Martin's mind, but who does he slot in, put bluntly without Holgate and with Lewis Payne out on loan at Newport and James Bree & Juan Larios injured, the managers options to rest the fullbacks are limited Thierry Small has returned from his loan spell, but he hasn't kicked on from his appearance in the 4th round of the FA Cup two years ago.
So at the back Saints have issues and it is perhaps a warning of our lack of experienced cover we have at the moment for games like this when we want to rest players. In the midfield I would expect to see Sam Amo-Ameyaw get a run out on the right and perhaps Ryan Fraser adding some experience on the left. In the centre i would expect Will Smallbone to play with perhaps Charly Alcatraz in front of him, but who will partner Smallbone sitting deeper is hard to see if we have to employ Charles in the back four.
Up front I would expect to see Sekou Mara given a run out with Adam Armstrong alongside him, like Mason Holgate I think Che Adams appearance or non appearance in this game will tell us a lot about the rest of the January transfer window. But perhaps the bench will see a few surprises and a few of them chomping at the bit to try and force their way into Russell Martin's thinking, Tyler Dibling &, Kamari Doyle spring to mind.
Russell martin has some thinking to do to rotate his squad for this one. Walsall will be no push overs though, although they are mid table in League 2, they are only 3 points off the play offs and have won 5 of their last 6 League games, the last of those coming against the side who knocked Saints out last year, Grimsby Town were beaten 6-1 on their own patch on New Years Day, when you consider that there were no sendings off for the home side, and that Grimsby would have been only 3 points behind Walsall had they won, it was a remarkable result and one that Saints should take heed of. Ticket sales have gone well for the game and at £12.50 a ticket for adults and £7.50 for under 18's it is a good chance to see not only a full blooded cup tie but some of the Saints youngsters who are highly regarded.
This could well be a tricky game for Saints, in truth I don't think that the FA Cup is Russell Martin's priority, that is the League, but injuries in recent weeks although not stretching the squad for the games in the Championship are doing so for this game. Personally although I am a big fan of the FA Cup and don't like to see club's not take it seriously, on this occasion I do think Russell Martin is going to have to tread a thin line in this game, if he errs on the side of caution and puts out a young side then perhaps in the long run that would be the right thing. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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