Saints take on Middlesbrough knowing a win could take them back into the top 10 of the Premier League.
Reading social media since the Europa League exit and you would think that Saints were firmly entrenched i the bottom three and had barely won a game all season instead of being a team that despite a bad run of games in recent weeks are still within sight of the top ten.
Indeed if we had beaten Hull away we would now be 8th possibly even 7th and if we had added to that by drawing at Palace we would be 6th.
Now I know that is all if's and but's, but what it shows is how near we are to having a good season in the Premier League and that there is not much wrong with the club that beating Boro can't go a long way to putting right.
Thursday evening was not the first cup defeat we have suffered which has been crushing, however in my memory it has been the only one that has provoked such a reaction against the manager and team.
I have heard Nathan Redmond compared to Guly by some knee jerk reactions, some need a reality check and need to realise that in the past few years we have come a long way and our performances increased in standard, there will always be setbacks, but some Saints supporters are not used to things going wrong and cannot seem to accept that sometimes you have to go backwards to move forwards.
Hopefully Saints will need little motivation for this one, they need to go out and show that Thursday night was a blip and we can find our form and move towards our League Cup semi final in little under a month.
Claude Puel has to show the fans that he can turn things round, yes he has to take some of the blame for the Europa League exit, but not for Thursday but for the teams he put out in both Milan and Prague.
His selections on Sunday will be crucial, he has to strike the right balance, the goalkeeper and back four should pick themselves as should Romeu and Davis in the centre, the real key will be the remaining four positions.
First consideration is the third central position, for me I think we need to bring back Jordy Clasie who can move the ball quickly to start up attacks although I can see Puel going with JWP for his passing.
But most important are the three attacking positions, without Charlie Austin I would go for Shane Long, the irishman is more fitted to Puel's attacking blueprint than Austin, he can offer heading ability but is fast and mobile.
Normally I would then suggest Dusan Tadic, however perhaos the Serbian has not been back in training long enough to last the pace of a full game, therefore I would air on the side of caution on this one and use him off the bench .
That means Sofiane Boufal should play if he has recovered from the mystery knock that kept him out of Thursday's game.
So who should have the final third attacking position ?
I don't think it should be Josh Sims, already too much has been heaped on his shoulders and that was shown on Thursday in a game when he was perhaps worse than the fans thought Nathan Redmond was, but was excused on the grounds of youth and plenty of effort.
Sims will be a great player, but on Thursday he showed why he needs to be used sparingly to continue his footballing education and get used to the pace of the game, his time will come but only if he is allowed to develop, otherwise the fans will start to get on his back as they have done with JWP who like Sims started as the next boy wonder and although he is a very competent Premier League player has never really made the step to superstardom and therefore the Saints support have not warmed to him.
So the big question is should Puel play Nathan Redmond ?
I would say yes, Redmond will have the motivation to show the supporters that they are wrong to make him the latest scapegoat, I think from that perspective it is important that he starts rather than comes on from the bench to present a focal point for some.
This is a winnable game, we should beat Boro, but we should remember just over a year ago when just after an appalling home defeat to Liverpool in the League Cup we could only scrape a late draw against Aston Villa who were rock bottom of the league.
Back then the manager was being called all the names under the sun for tactical ineptness, Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle were being slagged off by sections of the support on a regular basis week in week out and were the main scapegoats as a large minority of the support claimed that we had failed to sign a striker in the summer and were paying the price for it.
Sound familiar ?