The former Southampton FA Cup hero who is now in a relegation battle

Southampton could become very used to Wembley this season.

In a more likely scenario, Tonda Eckert's Saints will travel to the home of football in the upcoming Championship playoff final.

But, they might also get here in the form of a dramatic FA Cup semi final, if they can pull off an earth-shuddering upset, and get past Arsenal on Saturday.

This is the more far-fetched option of the two possibilites, but the South Coast giants have progressed through to the semi-finals before, when Ralph Hasenhuttl was in charge back in 2021.

Southampton's last taste of the FA Cup semi finals

Indeed, 2021 saw the Southampton masses descend onto Wembley, hopeful that their side could get to their first final since their famous 1976 triumph.

Instead, they came unstuck to eventual winners Leicester, which did take the shine off their emphatic 3-0 win in the quarter finals versus AFC Bournemouth, somewhat.

Southampton would make the short trip to their near South Coast neighbours and dish out a bruising win, with the clear hero on the day sticking out as Nathan Redmond.

Redmond would have a say in all three of Southampton's goals, with a second-half brace from the Birmingham-born ace putting the tie beyond doubt, after he assisted Moussa Djenepo's opener.

With 30 goals and 27 assists next to his name for the Saints in total, Redmond is certainly fondly remembered to this day, for being a classy performer, while Southampton regularly competed in the top-flight.

More than four years on from his last cameo for the South Coast giants, Redmond is surprisingly back in the English game in the Championship.

Yet, while his ex-employers dream about promotion glory, he's joined a camp engulfed in possible relegation misery.

Redmond's relegation mission

Indeed, it would have come as a shock to EFL fans far and wide when Blackburn Rovers announced that the 32-year-old had signed a short-term contract with the Riversiders at the close of March.

With a deal only in play until the end of the season, it's clear that Blackburn have snapped up the services of the veteran, in the hope he can roll back the years to his Saints best, immediately, and keep the Lancashire outfit from falling to League One.

His former ties with Burnley, who are Blackburn's arch rivals, has made this move a little polarising.

But, desperate times call for desperate measures, with Michael O'Neill's men only four points off falling into the Championship relegation zone.

So, adding in a star who has amassed 31 goal contributions in the Championship across his varied career, on a free transfer basis, would have likely felt like a no-brainer gamble to sign off on.

He had only been fit enough to make eight appearances for former employers Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday, over the last two seasons, before calling Ewood Park his new home, but he will be handed a fresh slate in Lancashire.

Hopefully, Blackburn are able to hail Redmond as a hero, in the same glowing light Southampton see him in, for that sensational performance against the Cherries, that allowed the Saints to dream of FA Cup glory.