Saints V Wolves The Verdict
Saints took another step forward in their pre season planning with a win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In many respects though Nigel Adkins put out not quite a second string XI, but one that heavily featured players that are not likely to be first choice next season, Gazzaniga, Stephens, Hammond, Chaplow and Puncheon unless the manager knows something we dont, arent likely to be the first names on his team sheet, add to that the likes of Lambert & Schneiderlin were missing supposedly with knocks and this was very much a game where some players were given a rest and others with less game time given their chance to show the manager what they can do, although there were eight substitutions made, most were made in the final 20 minutes.
But do those selections signify anything, the fact that Stephens was preferred at centre back before Seabourne could be a clue to Adkins thinking about his squad, the failure to bring in a right winger so far this pre season and Jason Puncheon starting whilst Steve De Ridder only got a 15 minute cameo could well be another, although it would be a brave man who felt that Gazzaniga getting the full 90 minutes was anything other than making sure that the reserve keeper got some meaningful match action in pre season.
Other than that it was standard pre season fare and Im sure that Nigel Adkins will have been very happy tohave had a look at one or two players for an extended period although how much can actually be read into in regard to their performances and the result is negligible as nowadays most friendlies are more training games than contests.
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