As they look to avoid a straight third defeat on the bounce on Monday night, the first question is, Can Saints put out a team that can compete ?

If Saints still had Harry Redknapp as manager and thank god they don't, he would now be talking about bare bones, with three key players already out before the Arsenal game the last thing Saints needed was more injuries, but they got them in spades with first Jack Cork forced off, then Dusan Tadic and Shane Long having to grit his teeth and stay on through the pain barrier before the final blow and Toby Alderweireld pulling up with a hamstring problem.

The bad news is that Cork and Alderweireld are likely to join the injury list for at least two weeks and possibly more, however the good news is that Tadic should be fit alongside Shane Long.

But canSaints compete against Manchester United ?

The answer is they can, but it is going to need a few youngsters to step up to the plate.

The back four should not be a problem, personally I would go with Florin Gardos for this one rather than Yoshida but it would still be a reasonable defence and still better than the one we had that got us to 14th in the table two years ago.

In midfield it would be more difficult and it will be about Koeman reshuffling, my personal choice would be to use Steve Davis and Wanyama as the holding players, they are both more than up to the task then it is a question of putting in Mane, Tadic and Long, but more to the point what formation to play them, all of them can play wide, but one of them is going to have to play in the centre and perhaps Tadic would be best suited to this, add Pelle up front and that line us is more than capable of a result against Manchester United.

The real problem will be on the bench, Mayuka, Davis and Yoshida in my opinion are makeweights, perhaps im being harsh on the Japanese centre back, but the truth is than none of these three would get into any other Premier side, you can add to them Matt Targett and Harrison Reed and the reality is it is now time for them to step up to the plate, who will join these five on the bench is unclear and that shows just how tight things are with so many injured.

But I would say that any Premier League side would struggle if they had five players out who are first team regulars, its just our misfortune to be playing United rather than someone lower down the table.

So what is needed on Monday is the true 12th man and that is the crowd, there is no time to have scapegoats, it is time to be proud of what this side has done and back them to the hilt, let them see that their battling performance at Arsenal, although ending in heartbreak was appreciated, the supporters could see that every one of them was willing to battle for the shirt, if we want them to do that again on Monday then we need to help them by roaring them on all the way, if we do that then we might justsurprise not only the watching nation but ourselves

Photo: Action Images

VeloSaint added 11:16 - Dec 4 Think you're right Nick about the back 4 and in midfield Davis will surely drop back. Reed could well come in for him though and play the more advanced role which he's used to. Tadic, Long and Pelle up front, with Mane as the option off the bench.
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SaintNick added 11:24 - Dec 4 There are still options and overall the side we will have to put out on Monday will still be better than the one that we were putting out two years ago
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SaintDownUnder added 11:31 - Dec 4 Forster Clyne. Fonte. Gaidos. Bertrand Davis. Vic Mane. Tadic. Long Pelle
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corkcitysaint added 11:49 - Dec 4 Not sure if Gardos will start. RK seems to like Yoshida as he's played him at the back the last 2 games. I thought Gardos would have come on instead... Looks like Rooney will be back too. Always seems to score against us... Hopefully, we can keep it tight and grind out a point. I'd take that. Have to say Forster played a blinder last night. Hopefully, he'll have a quiet game Monday.

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VeloSaint added 11:58 - Dec 4 You're right Nick and Utd are not the same team they were then either. This is a winnable game, we matched Arsenal last night and no reason why we can't take Utd even with injuries to key players. It looks to me like the top 2 will ease away from the rest over the remainder of the season, think it will be a lot closer in the pack behind them compared with previous seasons.

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brady100 added 12:21 - Dec 4 Perhaps our biggest problem in having a small squad, is that players like Mane, Tadic and Pelle to an extent are playing every game as we have no suitable replacement. Mane in particular looks particularly off form, Tadic looks fatigued and overall we lack the cutting edge and spark we had previously. Limited options off the bench make it even harder to compete with the top teams. Going to be a difficult month I fear. Will be there Monday to cheer us on regardless.

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SaintDownUnder added 12:35 - Dec 4 Brady100 I think we've looked fatigued back when we played Stoke. It's hard to balance having a settled team, and providing players rest by rotating a squad. I know many thought last year that MoPo didn't rotate enough, but I guess that's tricky when the squad quality doesn't permit. Koeman is following the same path using pretty much the same 14/15 players every game. I'm perhaps a little more optimistic, but I understand your concern.

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IanRC added 13:29 - Dec 4 Shame mariner did not do his job last night in respect of the two footed challenge that injured Cork right in front of him. In fact we hardly got a decision at all last night. Referee favoring the home 'big' team ? Foster was superb, a much better performance.
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BaselSaint added 13:31 - Dec 4 I'm very surprised and a bit worried that Gardos has not been used. Does anyone know why Yoshida was given 2 appearances ahead of him?
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thegeneral added 13:32 - Dec 4 I think moving Tadic into a more central role will be interesting, i think he will find it easier to link with Pelle who is up against a poor ManU CB pairing, so going through the middle may be to our advantage. Our game plan has been to push the fullbacks forward but the ball in has been so poor its largely ineffective and has been worked out by the more switched on managers. Change of shape such as a straight 4-4-2 or 4-1-3-2 with Wanyama playing a sweeper role (particularly as Rooney likes to drop into the hole), could be effective.

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aceofthebase added 14:28 - Dec 4 forster clyne fonte yoshida bertrand Davis Gardos Wanyama long pelle isgrove
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beachymike added 15:23 - Dec 4 May be wrong but I think Gardos is right-footed, and is there as cover for Jose and Clyne. That said, Clyne can play LB so Gardos should be able to play left side as well.
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SaintGeorge added 17:30 - Dec 4 No Mané. No. Not Mané. Absolutely not. He's not up to it. Clyney - Fontey - Gardosy - Targetty Steve Intrestin Davis - Big Vic - Bertrand Seamus - Graziano - Dušan Tadić on the left ffs. It's obvious.
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Sango123 added 03:27 - Dec 5 I hope RK gets some money for reinforcements. Our team is looking extremely thin right now
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10i added 07:29 - Dec 5 Gardos was really weak when playing at Stoke in the League Cup. Shaky, weak with the ball, no good positioning, simply the weakest player on the pitch. Wasn't able to see the Swansea game, but there he played just 10 men. Remembering that Stoke game it doesn't surprise me that Yoshida is ahaed of him and I doubt him to be an accurate DM because of a lack of mobility...
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SanMarco added 08:26 - Dec 5 Yes - my only view of Gardos was at Stoke - he did seem to crumble in the second half when we were under pressure. RK obviously prefers Yoshida and so will presumably play him. We will need to better going forward in order to keep some pressure off the weakened defense. That means that Mane, Tadic and Pelle in particular have to control and keep the ball better when it comes to them.

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Scummer added 09:08 - Dec 5 But in the League Cup game at Arsenal, Gardos and Targett were absolutely fine. Targett behind Bertrand is definitely an option. And what about Isgrove - is he injured? He had a fine pre-season. And I would also like to see Reedy get a shot in midfield given the injury list. I think Tadic, Pelle, Mane look out of sorts and jaded - rest and competition might be just the ticket. We could do with Jay-Rod back in contention as soon as poss.

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SaintDownUnder added 09:29 - Dec 5 I agree with the general - what has happened to our crossing? Not just in open play but set plays too, they've been terrible recently. Saint George has a point re Tadic, he's got a great left peg, if we want a decent cross then let's play him on the left. Do this and we'll see the best of Pelle.
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sidsaint added 10:41 - Dec 5 I agree Koeman seems to prefer Yoshida over Gardos. I was wondering if he might move Bertrand into midfield and give Targett his chance at left back. I also would not be surprised if Reed gets on at some time on Monday. I'm sure that Koemann is hoping for great support from the crowd as he has some history with Van Gaal and will appreciate all the backing we as fans will give him. So lets end the losing run and turn out in full voice on Monday.

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BoondockSaint added 16:00 - Dec 5 Agree with posters who want Tadic on the left. In a previous post I mentioned that he has had to change his position to accomodate Mane. It should have be the other way around. We were doing fine with crosses from the left into Pelle in the box. Mane should have had to adapt, not Tadic who is our most creative player. Also, I would have Tadic taking all corners.
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squidofdespair added 06:28 - Dec 6 fantastic use of the comma in the last paragraph Nicko. Squid will be there on Monday night and may offer some encouragement to the chaps, what what.
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squidofdespair added 06:29 - Dec 6 ...and squid likes the way you decided to tear it up completely by dispensing with the need for a full stop. Rad.
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