The clock is ticking now on Saints chances of survival in the premier League, the Saints board's hesitancy, has left Ivan Duric with an uphill battle and that means that every game is must win.

Southampton go into this game with time running out, to be blunt there are too many points needed and too few games to get them, we start the day rock bottom on 6 points and there are only 5 teams above us with a realistic worry about relegation now, at the top of that pile stand Crystal Palace & Everton on 17 points and if Palace beat Saints and propel themselves up to 20 points, then surely catching them would be an impossible task.

It is not just about how many points we can get, but how few points those above us can muster..

The good news is that Ivan Duric's first game in charge against West Ham had a lot of encouraging signs, it was just a shame that it ended in defeat.

The issue of creating chances looked to be much improved, but the old problem of scoring them still remained.

Tall Paul Onuachu had a good game against the Hammers, but can he score goals at Premier League level, truth is he should have done better with the chances that he had and indications are that he may be one on his way in January.

Our more direct style may well suit both Ben Brereton Diaz & Cameron Archer and I would not be surprised to see them utilised as Duric gets his feet under the table.

But for this game I don't expect too many changes from the starting line up against the Hammers, the back line looked solid and both wing backs worked hard, although against a big & powerful Palace side, I would not be too surprised to see Sugawara sacrificed for James Bree.

Otherwise I think it will be unchanged.

As said there is only one outcome that is acceptable, if we had 7 or 8 points more then we would have the leeway to call a draw a good result, but that is no longer the case, it is win or bust against the Eagles and it has to be Death Metal Football.

This is the dawning of a new era, there is no use crying over the spilt milk of the previous games of this season, we as supporters just need to get behind the team, just go for it and hopefully end this season with our pride restored.

All Photos Via Reuters

IanRC added 20:06 - Dec 28 Please not BD, Archer should start. Disappointing to see our first rumoured signing is a defender, wake up Sports Republic.
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Colburn added 23:39 - Dec 28 Need to start with our best finisher in Archer or we’ll draw another blank. That said Onuachu must get a goal sooner or later. Probably get 2 in 5 minutes after such a long time.. The next 2 are must win games to give us a decent chance of survival. I can’t see the club making any big signings in Jan, more likely to cull a couple and bring in a striker on loan to replace Cornet, Ferguson would be amazing if we could grab him for 5 months. Charles and Edozie may as well be brought back.

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