Claude Puel will once again rotate his team as it takes on the Gunners, but this time Saints fans will forgive him after the result on Wednesday at Liverpool.

Claude Puel will have no choice but to rotate his team with a mini injury crisis on his hands after the win up at Anfield.

Virgil Van Dijk will be missing and he will be joined on the injury list by James Ward Prowse and Jay Rodriguez who both picked up minor ankle injuries at Liverpool, Puel expects Ward Prowse to be fit for Tuesday's visit to Swansea with J Rod back for West Ham next weekend.

That leaves Saints very short especially in the centre of defence where both Yoshida and Jack Stephens were superb, but the manager has no real alternatives in the Premier League.

That means that one of them will probably miss out today, favourite to come in will be Florin Gardos who has not made a first team appearance in nearly two years due to a combination of firstly falling out of favour with Ronald Koeman and then injury.

He is now in his longest spell of fitness since the summer of 2015 and after run outs in the U23 side could start against the Gunners, with Saints desperately trying to make at least one central defensive signing before the window closes he will also hope that Gardos becomes a viable option in the next few weeks.

Certainly he could be, although not entirely convincing two years ago under Koeman, the stats say otherwise and he had a great record in terms of results in the games he played in which perhaps suggests that he is better than some would have you believe.

Whilst no one begrudges Puel's tinkering this weekend given the circumstances, the fact is we do want to have a run in this competition and that means putting out a side that can compete as it did up at the Emirates in the League cup.

Puel can still do that but it will mean keeping a strong side at the back and that will be difficult to balance.

Under normal circumstance Puel might be tempted to give Harry Lewis another run out in goal, but with such a under strength back four I think he needs to keep Fraser Forster in goal to keep the experience, although Arsenal will themselves play their kids, they are not Norwich City and it should be remembered that the crowd want to see the team compete and go through.

In the defence I would expect Sam McQueen to start and normally Puel would also put in Cuco Martina at right back, but given the crisis in the centre I would hope that he would err on the side of caution here.

Personally I would like to see him keep the back four intact other than McQueen in for Bertrand.

Then a strong centre of midfield, Romeu, Clasie and Reed or Hojbjerg would be my choice, then I would look to have Sims, Long and Redmond up front.

The key to success up front is continuity and Redmond had a great game up at Liverpool and in recent games has been as good as anyone, this is a good chance for him to keep that form going and get some of the crowd off of his back.

Shane Long has scored two goals in the last three games plus being brought down for the penalty against Leicester, strikers thrive on goals and we need him to get a run going.

The euphoria of Wednesday should not mean we take our eye off the ball in this one, the league has been a bit disappointing so far this season, but the cups offer us respite and the FA Cup is another competition we could do well in this season, knock out one of the favourites and we take a major step forward.

Today will be a day of celebration after Wednesday, it is going to be a whirlwind few weeks in the run up to Wembley, but we do need to keep our eye on the ball and realise that we have to keep our focus.

Photo: Action Images

Bettwsresident added 14:51 - Jan 28 our record against the gunners since 2014 has been exceptional, we have well and truly been their bogey team... Played 8, Won 4, drawn 2, lost 2, for 13 against 6.....COYS's lets add to it...
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the_saint added 16:52 - Jan 28 Over rotated again but I suppose the lads did put in a hard shift Wednesday so I will let him off this one
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vanmans added 18:27 - Jan 28 After the lord mayors show. Its Lambs to the Slaughter. Arsenal Reserves v Southampton Reserves half time 3-0. Are Reserves are just not good enough we need To BUY new Players before Tuesdays deadline.
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petedoors1 added 21:14 - Jan 28 That performance was a total disgrace. That was an insult to the paying fans to pick a team like that and it undermines all the good feeling the club had built up in the week. It was a near full house and people paid hard earned money so are entitled to expect to see the best players available, not a team selected to surrender the game. The club should give us our money back. These kids are just not good enough. Rotation Does Not Work.

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the_saint added 22:04 - Jan 28 What a frustrating season puel over rotates early season and fans get on his back then against Liverpool in efl cup and leisester he plays strong sides we play well and we all think he has learned not to over rotate then he makes 10 changes against Arsenal and we get a pasting he then takes the blame for result ( fair enough) then says he would pick the same side if he done it all again can't get my head around this manager not slating him just very confused on his thinking . If he was a bit braver and put a few more experience players in we could have got a result today

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SaintPaulVW added 22:35 - Jan 28 We've lost how many players to injury and are through to a Wembley final. Something was always going to give and this was clearly chosen to be it. Rest up from crazy 2 game a week schedules and concentrate on the league / cup match now.
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pintsizedsaint added 23:45 - Jan 28 I suspect (or hope) this was a vital lesson learned for Puel. It's easy to forget that Puel has never managed outside France and he's just six months into managing in the hardest league in the world. The judgment just didn't pay off at all. Looking back, pairing Stephens along Gardos was a huge gamble. Ok, maybe do that against a lower ranking Premier side or a championship team but not against Arsenal. It well be a second string Gunners side but the fact that contained Walcott, The ox and Welbeck just goes to show the massive gulf between the top 4 and the rest. As a result it was carnage. And so the fans who attended will be rightly outraged at paying good money for that performance. Equally, it's not going to have helped the confidence of most of those out there. Puel is a good manager and you expect him to make mistakes. He's put his hands up to this one (and I think he's been lost in translation regarding his 'I'd do it again' comment - I think he was trying to say that he felt he had no choice). It's a lesson learnt and we pick up and move on.

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SanMarco added 10:43 - Jan 29 A team selection that raises many questions: 1. Is it professional/ethical to put out a side bound to lose in front of a full house of paying customers + live tv audience (the club took money from BT and by extension us for that too). 2. Does Puel think we are in danger of relegation? - if not then why prioritise Tuesday. Why throw a cup match to go for 9th in the league instead of 12th? 3. Was it an unsubtle hint to the board that we need new signings NOW? 4. Was it an unsubtle hint to the fans that he doesn't give a flying feck what we think? The 'he is at last listening' narrative after Weds is now blown out of the water... 5. Why can't professional footballers play football regularly? Are Romeu, Yoshi and Bertrand etc such shrinking violets that the would rather sit around doing nothing than do what they are handsomely . paid for? That's enough questions for now but I am sure there are others. A message to the relentless optimists - please answer question 2 above. You are the ones who say there is no way we can go down so how come we couldn't have tried to win yesterday and given some of our poor dears a rest on Tuesday???

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