Saints take on a Hull City side who see this game as vital to their survival in the Premier league and will be fighting for their lives.

My recent concerns about Saints defensive frailties are much maligned by some on here who seem to think that letting in an average of 1.8 a game over the last 10 Premier League matches shows that we have a very capable centre of defence.

I am not going to go into the details here, but the simple factor is that if Saints can't keep clean sheets then they have to win games by outscoring the opposition and if the opposition is getting 1.8 a game then we need to be scoring 3 goals to win a game.

Indeed of the four games we have won out of the last 10 in the Premier League, in three of those wins we did score 3 or more goals, and in the other six we not only managed to keep only two clean sheets, but in three of the games scoring three goals would ot have been enough for a win.

These stats perhaps tell you all you need to know about Saints defence and the reality is that unless we change it the likelihood is that we are going to need to score at least three times tomorrow to beat Hull City.

Of course we do have the firepower to do so, but we cannot keep putting pressure on ourselves to HAVE to score more than one goal.

I will be very interested to see the line up that Claude Puel puts out tomorrow and how he intends to tackle a Hull side with their tails up and who have won 4 of their last 7 Premier League games to drag themselves out of the bottom 3 and looking for the first of what will probably be two wins needed out of their last four games to make sure that they survive.

The good news is that they like us have conceded 18 goals in their last 10 league games, so they are far from being watertight, the bad news is they have scored 16 in that time, so are more than capable of scoring against us.

All in all then it is looking like a goal feast in store with two sides who can let in as many as they can score.

From our point of view if we want to finish in the top ten then we have to win this game, on paper it is the easiest of our final six matches and will give us a little more breathing space.

Claude Puel is now coming into the business end of the season and it is crucial he starts to show he knows what he is doing, in recent games there has been too much indecision and wrong selections and substitutions made, he has seemed content to sit back and hope things work out rather than make tactical changes that make it more likely that they will.

Surprisingly it is almost a sell out tomorrow, as of Friday afternoon there are barely 100 seats left, most only single seats dotted around the ground, tomorrow will either be a big step forward for Claude Puel in turning many Saints fans round in their opinion of him, or it could be the start of a backlash.

On reflection this season has had many great moments, it has had perhaps half a dozen games that have been classics, that are up there with the greatest in Saints history, ie the Semi at Liverpool, the EFL Cup final at Wembley, the games against Inter Milan, but conversely it has had some awful moments, many of which perhaps should have been avoided.

That has meant that the great times have been passed over in peoples memories, this season feels like one of failure, we have had a good team but too many times it has failed at vital moments, some like the injury to Virgil Van Dijk have been unavoidable, but sadly too many should not have happened, be it our failure to replace Fonte in January that became a crisis when VVW was injured, our poor showing in Prague when a reserve team was put out or the last ten games or so when we have been like a leaky sieve at the back.

Often it is the final games of a season that help define it in many peoples minds, last year the mediocrity of mid season was wiped from the memory as we stormed to a top six finish, Claude Puel has to make sure that he does not wipe out what should be some great memories by failing to motivate his side to another decent ending.

Three years ago a top ten finish was seen as a major triumph, now it is expected.

Photo: Action Images

arthurfane added 15:15 - Apr 28 Your articles are becoming more and more "I told you so" in nature - Claude isn't going to shuffle his pack at CB, so get over it and support the team. This is not the "easiest of our final six" - Middlesbrough will most probably have been relegated by the time we play them, and Stoke will be playing for nothing. This is a tough game against a Hull side who are dead in form, but I expect Manolo to rediscover his killer touch and score a brace in a 3-1 victory. Come on Saints!

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LordDZLucan added 16:01 - Apr 28 Look, we've lost our first choice centre back pairing at a stroke. It's no surprise that we aren't as solid as we were. To my mind letting in more goals is simply the result of Claude Puel putting a greater emphasis on attack - quite probably in response to losing Jose and Virgil. I'm happy with that. I feel comfortable now that if we go a goal behind then it's not a problem because we can score especially now that we have Gabbiadini; before Xmas I didn't feel that way. Enjoy the attacking football instead of worrying about our centre backs and pray that the board gets the cheque book out in the summer.

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Sanguin added 16:34 - Apr 28 I agree that we need to improve our centre backs for next season and that there have been some really low points this season. I disagree that “tomorrow will either be a big step forward for Claude Puel in turning many Saints fans round in their opinion of him, or it could be the start of a backlash.” You’re right that this season has felt disappointing, but we played at the San Siro, got to a domestic cup final and can still finish in the top 10 for the third season in a row. By any objective measure this season is a long way from a failure. Taking a step back, the fact that it feels so disappointing is a testament to the high standards that we now expect from our team. I’m really excited about next season, I think we can hang on to our best players, strengthen and with less fixture congestion, a full pre-season and more luck with injuries it could really be a great year.

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the_saint added 16:34 - Apr 28 We all know you are right nick and hopefully it will be addressed in the summer but for now we all have to get behind the boys and help them finish the season strong
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saintmark1976 added 17:14 - Apr 28 Sorry Nick but in my opinion you are becoming obsessive in regard to the goals conceded in the last ten games and the current centre back situation. Truly there is no logic whatsoever in suggesting that we will need to score at least three goals to win tomorrow based on previous statistics.If you disagree then I would suggest you could make decent money at the bookies by backing your theory. In any event let's hope for a decent entertaining game tomorrow and a better result than our last two outings.Our run in appears more difficult than Bournemouth's and I for one do not want to finish below them.

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Natedog added 18:22 - Apr 28 As important as tomorrow is, I don't think this one game will decide whether Puel is good or not. I think that needs judging over a couple of seasons. I don't think we'll keep a clean sheet tomorrow but I do think that we will win. We have had to difficult games recently and although I don't think that we can keep the current centre back pairing next season, it is still nice to have them both at the club if required and for the bench. As long as we finish in the top 10 this season I'm happy because the top 10 and a cup final is more than a lot of fans get in a season. Tomorrow we will have a strong team out and I reckon that we will either win 2-1 or 3-2 but it should be entertaining. Gabbiadini can hopefully score and Forster needs to have a convincing performance as he has not looked assured in the last 2 games, or for most of the season for the that matter. Tomorrow is not the be all and end all however it would be nice to come out with a positive result. I reckon Tadic and Redmond should start and the rest of the team should remain unchanged. I would like to see more of Clasie from the bench at some point and Hassen before the end of the season at least once so that I can be sure that we are not letting a really good player slip through ur fingers, although if Puel has chosen not to play him then I highly doubt we are. Let's do well at Saint Mary's and get the 3 points and not judge Puel fully until halfway through next season!!! COYr

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SanMarco added 22:11 - Apr 28 Surely if we let in 1.8 tomorrow then 1.9 will be enough for a win. I might have a flutter on a 1.8 - 1.8 draw though. Saints need to aim to entertain for the rest of the season. Points are not overly important now but those paying their hard-earned to watch deserve a good game.
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pete_boggs added 12:20 - Apr 29 I agree 100% with your views especially on Puel's poor substitutions. He doesn't seem able to affect the game positively or know when to shore things up. I think that the posters on here are looking through rose-coloured specs and will be disappointed when we will struggle to get 4 more points by the end of the season. We could get more points if we stop shipping goals. Perhaps time to put Caceres and Hassan in.

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