When this fixture was arranged it probably was foreseen as a very important part of Saints pre season development, but the Europa League has changed that.

Its a case of déjà vu for Saints supporters for the visit of Espanyol to St Mary's this afternoon as the Spanish club were the opposition in the first ever game played at St Mary's back in August 2001.

The build up to that game off the pitch was frantic with the stadium only being granted its safety certificate literally a couple of hours before the gates were due to open.

Now it will be a lot more laid back and sedate, not just off the pitch but on it as well, usually this game would have been the last chance for Ronald Koeman to fine tune his side before the Premier League's opening game next weekend, however the Europa League has put paid to that and things have had to change drastically.

This game is now sandwiched between the two games against Vitesse and it is likely that Koeman will use it to give those who did not feature in Thursday's game a run out, it has already been confirmed that Jay Rodriguez will start, he is being nurtured back into full training and action and that meant he played no part in the Europa League game, as with fixtures coming thick and fast over the past month there would have been the temptation to rush him and after so long out from the physical contact of playing football that could have easily have set him back.

This game should also give most Saints supporters their first chance to see new signings Steven Caulker and Coco Martina, I would expect Ronald Koeman to be very keen for the central defender from QPR to get game time for Saints under his belt.

Espanola in many respects could mirror Saints spell in the Premier League from its inception in 1992 till our relegation in 2005, they are the longest serving club without winning the title in La Liga and they reached the UEFA cup final in 2007 only to lose to Sevilla.

On connection is of course Mauricio Pochettino who managed the club before being sacked in 2012 a few moths before taking over at St Mary's and then there is Dania Osvaldo.

I don't think anyone can pretend that this will be a truly competitive match although it might be spiced up by the fact that there will be more than a few players out there for Saints trying to push their credentials to Ronald Koeman.

At £5 a ticket for season ticket holders and still only £10 for everyone else with big discounts for kids etc, its a cheap way to see just how some of the fringe players in the squad are shaping up.

Photo: Action Images

gpsgm added 10:30 - Aug 2 Still an important part of pre-season as this gives match time to our 2nd XI and we need a 2nd XI this season if we get to the group stages of Europa. Hopefully a good opportunity for Gazza, Caulker Coco, McCarthy, Harry, JWP, Juanmi, JRod and maybe Shane. That leaves some spaces for some younger players to start today. I can't believe Ron will risk any key players before the 2nd leg. Hopefully this will build some competition for places in the 1st XI. Looking forward to it.

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schatfield added 11:09 - Aug 2 i remember them playing us back in 2001 with the shiny new stadium..it was a grand day out although the saints team wasnt that good on the day. Hammered 0-4 down by half time, rumours were they were asked to take it easy on us for the 2nd half!
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TimSaint added 11:46 - Aug 2 Not convinced that this will be any great spectacle, but I am going to the game anyway. Will be good to see some of the new boys and of course J Rod, although we have been told that he was starting or featuring in other games at the end of last season (Man City Away and the U21s) only for him not to make the squad. Apparently Espanyol will ring the changes as well, as they drew 0-0 in a friendly with Reading only yesterday. Anyone know how many tickets have been sold for this one ?

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