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Saints V Inter Milan The Preview

Southampton Football Club V Inter Milan at St Mary's Stadium, I never thought I would ever write that headline in a competitive game !

Saints take on Inter Milan and the only thoughts in Saints fans minds is that we play our strongest team and look to put them to the sword, Claude Puel needs to prioritise this fixture over and above the one against Hull City on Sunday knowing that although some of his squad will be on International duty in the two week break after the trip to Humberside, others like Charlie Austin, one of the players who needs to be managed in his game time, will have a two week recuperation period.

Im all in favour of the squad rotation policy, but sometimes you just need to play your strongest team and tonight is one of those occasions.

It is hopefully going to be one of those special nights at St Mary's, we had them at the Dell many times and we are now having them again, the stadium needs to be turned into cauldron, of course Inter's players are used to this sort of thing, they are used to noise and pyrotechnic displays that put the New Years Eve fireworks in London to shame, but we can create something that is aimed to inspire our players and not theirs.

We need our team to leave nothing on the pitch and have no regrets and we Saints fans in the stands need to leave nothing in the stands and not have any voices left to moan should we not get the right result, indeed if we have the energy to moan then that perhaps answers one question.

Tonight is not a night to be a spectator, it is the night to be a supporter and there is very definitely a difference, we all support in our different ways, perhaps you don't want to join in chanting , but you can still shout words of encouragement to the team and raise the roof.

Also I don't care whether they are watching in Portsmouth or not, this is a night for Southampton Football Club and no one else.

We haven't come from League One, we have only played at that level for two years out of the last 56, it is where we resided briefly, we come from Southampton and everything that represents.

So all I want to see is the strongest Saints team out on the park, I trust Claude Puel to get things right and I want to enjoy what is one of the biggest games in the 131 year history of Southampton Football Club, I want nothing left on the pitch or in the stands, I want to be proud of my team, proud of my city and proud of my fellow Saints supporters, I have been many times before and will be many times again, but the time is now !

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