Southampton and Portsmouth don't regularly play each other in the league.
Indeed, when the two sworn South Coast enemies faced each other last season in the Championship, it was remarkably the first time the two teams had clashed in league action since the 2011/12 campaign in the second tier.
The much-loved Nigel Adkins was in the dug-out on that occasion, with Tonda Eckert still left searching for his first ever win in such a hostile contest, having only managed to collect a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park last season.
This will be the German's first ever taste of the South Coast Derby at St. Mary's, too, as Will Still was in charge for the home clash, which ended as a tense 0-0 stalemate, last August.
He will be nervous, as he has a 100% home record in the league this season to protect, but he will be boosted by a slice of injury news that has come to the surface from enemy quarters.
Fresh Pompey injury blow
As per Pompey sporting director Rich Hughes, it is touch-and-go as to whether Portsmouth's star marksman Marko Milovanovic will be fit for the showdown at St Mary's this coming Sunday.
He missed the final two matches of the busy Championship fixture schedule before the break due to an unwanted calf injury, with a hope on the end of the Fratton Park faithful that he would back up to speed and fit for this crucial clash, after the three-week break.
Unfortunately, it doesn't sound promising from a Pompey perspective, as Hughes honestly stated that "hopefully we’ll see him in the not too distant future after Southampton" when quizzed on the Serbian's injury status by the News.
While this will be a significant smack to the jaw for Josh Mousinho's men, who will have to make do with a goal-shy Colby Bishop, instead, if Milovanovic is unfit, this is very welcome news from a Saints point of view.
Milovanovic has settled in well to life on the South Coast, with two goals in Championship action so far this season.
In stark contrast, the aforementioned Bishop's confidence is well and truly on the floor, with only four goals coming his way across his last 49 second tier outings.
You would imagine that Keven Schlotterbeck would be able to deal with the insecure number nine rather comfortably, with Bishop never finding the back of the net in the South Coast Derby, either.
The Saints do have their own injury concerns up top, though, so they can't get too cocky, knowing Milovanovic is likely to be absent.
Saints have their own injury concerns
The smug grin planted on Southampton's face regarding Pompey's anxious wait about the Serbian's injury situation will be wiped off emphatically if Cyle Larin isn't in a fit enough condition to start.
He had to sit out Canada's latest clash against Peru owing to a back problem, so it could be another touch-and-go scenario, like Milovanovic's, as the seven-goal hero in the Championship this season races against time to feature.
Alongside Larin, Daniel Peretz was also recalled back from international duty early due to a glute issue, with Aaron Ramsdale's long-awaited time to shine as the stand-in number one stopper potentially coming his way on Sunday, if the Israeli keeper isn't risked.
This is just the nature of the beast, unfortunately, with injury issues popping up part and parcel of the intense 46-game schedule taking its toll, alongside the international break being extended to cram in even more football.
The game should still be as fiercely competitive as ever, irrespective of what lineups Eckert and Mousinho can field, as the latest instalment of the South Coast Derby plays out on Sunday.
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