Southampton will want to give the St. Mary's masses something to cheer about when Stoke City come to town on Saturday.
The opening weekend of the brand-new Championship season was a sobering one for the Saints to take in, as while their Spygate foes, Middlesbrough, got off the mark with a 2-1 win over newly promoted Lincoln City, Tonda Eckert's men stumbled to a 2-1 loss against Watford.
It's only early days, but the South Coast side will be desperate to get a monkey off their back with a win against the Potters, as the more they go winless, the more the minus four point deduction begins to weigh heavy.
Stoke won't be a pushover on their travels to St. Mary's, however, as they'll want to recify their own errors, after losing to Swansea City on their home patch on the opening weekend.
The Potters could also have this EFL sharp shooter available for the trip down to the South Coast, with Mark Robins' men said to be closing in on the £10m signature of the striker in question...
Stoke close to a statement signing
Reports suggest that Robins and Co. are about to win the services of George Hirst for a deal that could rise to £10m.
Hirst looks set to leave, as Ipswich Town embark on a new season back in the Premier League this weekend, and Stoke looks very likely to be his next destination, with talk that a deal might be sped up so he can feature against the Saints on Saturday.
He would very much be up for this clash against Eckert's hosts, as he was previously on the books of Portsmouth, before making a name for himself with the Tractor Boys.
In total, Hirst has 28 goal contributions under his belt in the Championship, with Southampton having to be very switched on at back to ensure they thwart the EFL sharp shooter on his Stoke debut.
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Jack Stephens, if he does start, cannot be mis-kicking any more clearances, if the fox-in-the-box Scotsman is lurking.
Scoring on his first ever Championship start for Ipswich back in 2023, the £10m centre-forward will be raring to go in Stoke red and white on the South Coast, if the signing is done in time.
He could go on to be a firm fan's favourite at the bet365 Stadium, with Kieran McKenna - who was his long-term boss in Suffolk - noting that he is an "incredible player" who "gives his all" every time he steps out onto the pitch.
Eckert will be backing his own free-flowing team to be back to their best against the Potters, though, as he has several of his own potent attackers he can call upon.
Eckert will back his own team to win
Amazingly, as well, despite Hirst's impressive goal tally in the second tier, he has never scored against Southampton from five previous meetings.
Whereas, last season, Finn Azaz and Flynn Downes grabbed the goals to down Stoke 2-0 on their own patch, and the two individuals named could start against the Potters again on Saturday, desperate to steer their winless team to a much-needed victory.
Southampton have goals all across the team, with Lewis Dobbin wanting to follow from his 2024/25 strike against Stoke, when he was on the books of Norwich City, with his first ever Saints goal on Saturday.
He has never actually lost to the Staffordshire outfit from three previous meetings, funnily enough.
There is, of course, also Cyle Larin, who is a deadly poacher, with nine goals from his last 11 Championship starts.
The worry of Hirst's arrival on the scene feels a lot less now, compared to what Robins and Co. need to watch out for.
With Stoke also only winning five Championship games since Christmas Day, it's very much a clash between two teams who will be despairing to get their seasons up and running.
It will be intriguing to see which attack comes out on top come around 4:45pm on Saturday evening, with the signing of Hirst adding some spice to the away team's forward line, if it's sealed in time.
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