The clash of the identical kits will see visitors Bristol City having to change into their black away kit for the 3rd round Carling Cup clash at St Mary's.

Saints face Bristol City in the Carling Cup and will be hoping for a different result than the last time the two teams met back in the Championship two years ago, back then City did the double over Saints winning 2-0 at Ashton Gate and then 1-0 at St Mary's in a game played on a Friday evening, 30th December 2011 to be exact. Indeed the Robins have won the last four meetings between the two sides and Saints haven't scored a goal in any of them, that obviously needs to change tonight if Saints are to progress.

Saints will be hoping for a repeat of the last time the clubs met in this competition, back in October 2003 they won up at Ashton Gate 3-0 with goals from Brett Ormerod, James Beattie & Graeme Le Saux, since then Bristol City have ruled the roost, in the six League meetings, Saints only managed a solitary win 2-0 at home in April 2008, losing the other 5.

I say this every round in the Carling Cup, but I do hope that Saints take the competition a little bit more seriously than they have done in terms of team line up, in the last round a virtual second XI augmented by youngsters was good enough to despatch Barnsley and I fully expect a similar side to be put out tonight, however I hope that as they have done in the past Saints keep a few big guns on the bench in case of upsets, this competition is a great chance for success and we need to take it, no one apart from their own fans could probably tell you where Swansea finished in the Premier last season except that they didn't finish in the top four nor did they get relegated, but most would be able to tell you they won the Carling Cup and because of that they are playing in Europe, if Saints want to start to raise their profile in football then this is a good way to start, not to mention that we would find it far easier to sign quality players if we offered them the chance of European football even if its the secondary competition.

But Saints do have to keep a few players match fit and this fixture is a chance to give the fringe players a competitive game and hopefully they will step up to the plate and try to show Mauricio Pochettino that they are worthy of a chance in the first team when called upon, the trick will to be to get the right balance between seasoned pros like Danny Fox, Tadanari Lee, Jack Cork and Steven Davis, all players not commanding a place in the starting line up and getting them to gel with not only the likes of JWP or Callum Chambers, youngsters who are on the fringe, but some of the promising talent still in the development side like Lloyd Isgrove etc, this was done to great effect up at Oakwell time to do it in front of our own spectators.

A win in this game would put Saints into the last sixteen and with some of the Premier clubs pitted against each other it means at least 5 of the 19 Premier clubs left in the competition will have to go out, we have a great chance to progress in this round and a decent draw in the next could see us only one knockout tie and a two legged semi away from a Wembley appearance, that's how near we are to the final, I understand in some respects why clubs don't take it seriously in the early rounds, but on the other hand what a great chance this is for glory and don't understand why so many managers don't take it seriously.

Hopefully Saints will not slip up and will march into the last 16 without any worries and the game will achieve its dual aim of seeing us go into the next round as well as sharpening up the fringe players in the squad.

Photo: Action Images

ericofarabia added 10:07 - Sep 24 Agree totally about clubs taking this competition a bit more seriously. For any club outside of the Big 4 or so this is the most realistic chance of any silverware or European Qualification. Of course, when drawn against lower league teams, it is an ideal time to get squad members involved, but keep a good mix of regulars in as well, which would add stability to the side and allow the fringe players to settle in better.

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slynch added 10:37 - Sep 24 StNick, do you know the rules on which players are allowed to be used, ie non squad players etc.
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SaintNick added 11:18 - Sep 24 Sorry I don't know for sure, although im assuming that you can play anyone registered to play for the club, not necessarily just those named for the Premier League squad, as long as they haven't played for anyone else in the competition
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slynch added 11:24 - Sep 24 Cheers. Rowe and Sinclair looked good in U21 v Villa.
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SaintNick added 11:32 - Sep 24 I would play a combination of experience and youth with the same on the bench to provide back up depending on how the scoring goes
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NorwegianSaint added 16:18 - Sep 24 Would you rather win tonight or on Saturday (obviously want both but just asking...)
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