Southampton: Saints have near-full team ahead of Everton clash
By Chris Hughes
Ahead of this weekend’s must-win game against Everton, Mark Hughes has announced that Southampton don’t have any fresh injury concerns.
That means that Steven Davis – who has been struggling for fitness for much of the past two or three months – may miss the encounter with the Toffees which the Saints will be desperate to win.
If all results somehow go Southampton’s way, Mark Hughes’ side could jump right up to 15th with just two games to play – one of these is against fellow relegation candidates Swansea.
Having nearly a clean bill of health only aids the Saints in their bid for survival, especially with Davis not being as important a player as he perhaps used to be – all three other centre-midfielders are above him in the pecking order when fit.
The Northern Irishman made a 32-minute cameo against Leicester having previously not featured since February, however since that he has returned to the sidelines with the recurring problem.
Having all-but secured a top-half finish, Everton could very realistically be complacent this Saturday, something Southampton will look to capitalise on with those around them having tricky games.
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The Toffees are eighth as it stands but under Sam Allardyce have been fairly uninspiring, with several of their big-money signings having been fairly average for the best part of this campaign.
With the fixture in the evening through television coverage, the Saints will have just over three days between the match on Saturday and the mid-week game against Swansea on the Tuesday – with that in mind having a fit squad will be vital as the team may have to be heavily rotated for the latter.
With the Swansea game the much more winnable and important of the two, some of Southampton’s more important players may be rested or come off after an hour or so on Saturday. Allardyce will almost certainly set his side up with eight or so men behind the ball which could frustrate the Saints for the best part.
With that in mind, Hughes may be tempted to take the likes of Mario Lemina and Charlie Austin off and utilize the likes of Nathan Redmond and Shane Long.
Southampton versus Everton kicks off at Goodison Park this Saturday at 5:30 PM.