Of course all Saints fans wish that this weekend we were competing in the FA Cup, but the defeat to Crystal Palace does have its golden lining and that is the chance for Saints to get a much needed break.

Saints squad is not the biggest in the Premier league in terms of experienced players and it has been stretched to breaking point over the past two months when barely a week has gone by without someone picking up an injury that has kept them out of the side for at least several weeks.

This has meant that Ronald Koeman has not had the options to hand that he would have liked and that the core of the starting line up has been played week in week out, indeed between Boxing Day and the visit of West Ham on Wednesday a total of 47 days, Saints have played 8 Premier League games plus another 3 in the FA Cup, a ratio of a game every 4.25 days.

Now for the first time since the start of the season the team has a genuine period of rest, International Breaks have usually seen the bulk of the team in one squad or another and have not been a rest of any kind.

Now we have the chance to get that rest as well as bring a few of the long term injured a little nearer a return to action,

But it is the rest that is most important, we have looked a little jaded in recent weeks and this period without a game will be a blessing in disguise, hopefully when we return against Liverpool we will have a spring in our step whilst they will not only have had a tough and physical cup match at Crystal Palace tomorrow, but on Thursday will have also faced Besiktas in the Europa League, if we have one advantage it will be freshness and hopefully that will play a part.

Indeed over the next few weeks the games will come thick and fast for most of our rivals for a top four place whilst we will only have Premier league games.

Photo: Action Images

Butty101 added 11:14 - Feb 13 Are you suggesting theleague is more important than the cup? I would much prefer winning the cup than coming 4th.
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SaintNick added 11:38 - Feb 13 So would I have done, but now we are out of it we have to concentrate on what we can do and in this respect the rest could do us good
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TreeHugger added 12:30 - Feb 13 really? i think top 4 would be a much bigger achievement than winning the cup...especially in the context of todays game this season in particular. The cup is always a lottery. To perform consistently high for a whole season and get into the champions league would be a massive step forward.
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rebelsaint57 added 16:21 - Feb 13 The league is way more important than the cup financially, The winners of cup get 2 million if you finish 19th in the league you get more than that doesnt include the tv money. Saints do look tired so i am glad for the rest big game against Liverpool is so crucial
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corkcitysaint added 16:33 - Feb 13 I think the break can only be a good thing. We need to re-group for the last leg so to speak. Tired players can rest, injured players can recover, management can strategize, the group as a whole can focus on one final push. We need to work on how to break down teams and to find our scoring boots again. A cup win would have been great but a CL spot fills the coffers and attracts better players. as well as keeping existing ones..

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Mel_Kenny added 23:30 - Feb 13 For sure the rest is needed. The new players are not used to the amount of games played in the Winter and it's clearly showing
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Steve_N added 12:31 - Feb 14 Yes it would be great to have a decent cup run. However, this season finishing 4th is definitely more important. A Champions League place will improve our chances of retaining our top players and attracting players who otherwise may not be interested in signing for Saints.
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FrankSaint added 15:56 - Feb 14 Let's be Saintly -The city of Southampton has the smallest gap between richest and poorest in the UK. @SouthamptonFC we are Saints so let's keep it that way - http://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/24
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