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Southampton V Crystal Palace The Preview

After having any lingering fear of relegation ended last night with Fulham's defeat Saints now have four games left this season in which they can play without fear and try and win a few games and end the season on a high.

There are a few dilemmas for Ralph Hasenhuttl now that Saints place in next season's Premier League has been confirmed, the first being does he concentrate on getting points on the board or does he look towards next season.

There are benefits to both, beating Crystal Palace this evening would not only move Saints up into 14th only a point behind the Eagles and make the league table look a bit more respectable, but more to the point 3 places is worth £6 million in prize money and that is not to be sniffed at . overtake Palace in the run in and that's another £2 million.

So when planning for next season does Ralph go for getting cash in the pot by playing his best side, or does he look to getting some of the promising fringe players a game and experience ready for next term.

The answer is probably a bit of both, at the back I would like to see Mohamed Salisu given game time, he was signed last summer to replace Jannik Vestergaard and although the Dane rallied and was in superb form before Xmas, since his return from injury he has looked more like the player of old.

With that in mind he could be our best hope of raising money to strengthen the squad, but first we have to play Salisu and find out just how good he is or for that matter isn't.

So for me I would partner Jan Bednarek with Salisu in the centre and drop Vestergaard to the bench, assuming Ryan Bertrand is still not fit then I would leave Jack Stephens at right back.

Of course there is the option of playing three at the back and again I would like to see that option tried.

With regard to Bertrand it seems he may have played his last game, he is supposedly injured but contract negotiations appear to be stalled on the length of any new deal and it seems Ralph may as he did last summer with Hojbjerg look to the future in the final games and not to those who won't be here.

I would also like to see Nathan Tella given a game, whether that is up front or out wide no one is sure where his future lies just yet, but so far he looks promising.

Up front the big question is whether Danny Ings is fit or not, personally I would prefer him on the bench this evening rather than start and to make sure that he is truly fit for Saturday against Fulham.

No one is saying that Saints do not need to make a signing or two in the summer, what we do have to find out though is who is going to be a genuine contender for a first team place and who is going to drop out, all clubs will be strapped for cash this year and we may have to sell to buy and that is why I think Jannik Vestergaard might just be expendable.

Tonight is a winnable game and it along with Fulham on Saturday will give us a big indication for the future, for me we have some good foundations and this has been a season decimated with injury, we showed before Xmas what we could do with a full squad, our drop in form wasn't a full team playing badly, with a full squad there is plenty to look forward to next season.

But we have to now do it where it counts and that is on the pitch, beat the Eagles and make our League position look respectable.

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