Saints endeavor to beat Manchester City and in doing so win three Premier league games in a row for the first time this season.
Saints season has been one of inconsistency, if they had at any time found a winning streak of any sort then they would have been challenging Everton for 7th place and another run in the Europa League.
There have been many reasons as to why we did not fins that consistency, the most glaring is of course the way that Claude Puel implemented the rotation system in the first half of the year, the manager has to take some blame for that, but to give him all the blame would be unfair, on reflection Saints have suffered a very high number of injuries to key players some for extended periods as well as issues beyond the control of the manager such as the Jose Fonte problem.
But now we have a chance to right some of those wrongs and if we can win that elusive third consecutive game in the Premier League then it will set us up for a barnstorming end to the season.
On paper it looks like we will play for little more than pride and the first task is to secure a top ten finish, that in itself a club record, but the manager needs to finish the season with a flourish to show the fans that this season has been a learning curve, but he has learn't well and shown he can take us forward next season.
There is not much tinkering needing from the team that beat West Brom, althouth it will not surprise some to learn that I still feel Martin Caceres should be in the side.
Last week at West Brom watching thr game I felt that Yoshida and Stephens had decnt games, but wen i saw the TV replays it showed that both lost concentration in injury time meaning West Brom almost snatched a draw they didn't deserve, that was the same pattern as the two home matches in the previous week, we did not concede goals through poor finishing more than good defending.
Many Saints fans are happy iwith this it seems judging by the stick I took for saying so, but I say a good manager is a proactive one who can see things wrong before they cost us dearly, rather than just let things ride because we got away with it, if anyone disagrees then watch the tv replays of the last three games and tell me the marking has been Premier League quality.
But the squad is strong overall and can give City a run for their money, we just need to work hard and compete as we have done in recent weeks, but this is City and not our last three opponents and given they need to secure a Champions league place they wil not be so wasteful in front of goal as Bournemouth, Palace or West Brom.
Finally I would keep Gabbiadini back on the bench and keep hane Long in the side, Long deserves to keep his place and we need his hard work to keep City on their toes and stop them playing from the back, he is just the ma to do this, keep Gabba back for the second half to finish the job.