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