Every week seems to be a must win game due to one reason or another, the trip to Sunderland is probably more of a must not lose fixture but is important for several reasons.
If you read the internet too much you might be mistaken in the belief that Saints are about to implode, rumours were rife that the first 11 Saints supporters to arrive at the Stadium Of Light would be asked if they had brought their boots, as Saints would be unable to field a team due to most of their usual first team either being locked in talks with other clubs or refusing to play unless the old CEO was reinstated, indeed surely some would be unable to play without counselling.
The reality is a lot different, not only is Mauricio Pochettino still in charge but pictures have emerged of the first team squad laughing and joking during training on Thursday as they went through their paces.
Joking aside though the eyes of the country will be on Saints and how much the departure of Nicola Cortese will affect the team, ironically enough when we travelled to Cardiff I talked in the preview about the shennanigans up there and would it weigh too heavily on their team, the answer was that it did, but there are two crucial differences in this fixture, firstly we are away and secondly unlike Cardiff we are a decent side who can stand firm in a crisis.
This being the case its a question of business as usual for the Saints first team squad and Wanyama aside, we will have pretty much a full squad to pick from.
I dont expect too much change from last weeks starting line up, with Sunderland looking to step up a gear after a good win at Fulham I would hope that Mauricio Pochettino will go for a solid starting line up rather than flare and look to do as we did at Cardiff, keep it strong, win the ball, keep the ball and attack with incision.
Sunderland fans will go how with a smile on their faces whatever the result, if they lose Saints will leapfrog rivals Newcastle into 8th place, this could only be for a few hours, but it does give Saints some incentive to go for the win rather than a point, but it will also be a psycological blow landed on the Toon Army, it will let them know we are right behind them even if they do beat or draw at West Ham and jump above us again.
From a playing point of view the squad will not be affected by the departure of the Chairman as some would like to make out, football club's change Chairman and indeed owners on a regular basis, players are detached from this, their world has changed little, they are playing for the same things at the Stadium Of Light as they were at St Mary's last week, some will be sad to see Nicola Cortese leave, some will be glad, some wont care either way, that is life.
So Saints need to start where they left of last week, another solid performance, cut out the lapses of concentration and take the three points South to show that Saints are continuing to make progress on the field no matter who is in the boardroom.