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Saints V West Ham United The Preview

Can Saints make it four in a row and perhaps find themselves in the top ten of the Premier League for the first time in nearly a decade.

Big Fat Sam brings his West Ham troops to St Mary's looking to be only the second team this season to do the double over Saints in the league, indeed although Manchester United are the only team to manage this so far this season, our last six games include five teams who have all beaten us already this season, so the incentive is there for Saints to remain unbeaten in this run in to the end of the season.

But back to Saturday and both sides have their injury problems, for the london side Andy Carroll is a doubt and his absence could be a big plus for Saints who struggled to cope with Carroll at Upton Park earlier in the season and throughout the year have struggled with target men at set pieces.

Saints main doubts concern Jay Rodriguez and Luke Shaw both of whom have been key men in the last few months, both have suffered from a virus all week as has Jason Puncheon, the big question is how much this virus will have taken out of them and their ability to be strong over 90 minutes.

But it could give Mauricio Pochettino a chance to give some of the fringe players a chance to shine and although a top ten placing will be a short term priority, there are also a few in the squad who need to convince the manager that they are worth a part in his plans next season.

Playing a few of those whose opportunities have been limited isnt neccessarily a bad thing, after three straight victories achieved by basically the same side, a little bit of freshening things up, albeit enforced could be just the tonic needed to keep the winning run going.

On a head for head note, this game is a big factor in who will finish top of the promoted sides, for large parts of the season it looked ods on it would be West Ham, but now it isnt so certain and a win for Saints would put them three points clear of the Hammers, although they will still have a game in hand over us.

Under normal circumstances i would perhaps fancy us in this game, but can Saints win four games in a row ? my head says thats a big ask and that perhaps we will fall a little short, certainly West Ham's current more direct style will suit us less than that of our last four opponents and we shouldnt forget in the euphoria surrounding three straight wins that it wasnt that long ago the more direct QPR & Newcastle turned us over, we have the basis of a good side, but we are still a work in progress and the elements that got us into trouble in the first place, although papered over recently, are still there.

Times are good at Saints at the moment, but we have to stay focused and make sure we dispel all lingering doubts of getting dragged back into the relegation fight as quickly as possible.             

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