A draw would be a tremendous result and feel like a win to an extent. One change to the OP - Russel Martin has said Walker-Peters should be fit for the weekend. What's important to me is that Rigg and Aouchiche start. I think we might go with the below team Patterson Hume Seelt Ballard Hjelde Rigg Neil Styles Ba Jobe Aouchiche personally would prefer Jobe to be in midfield and a striker start, but I've not been impressed with Rusyn or Hemir and am at the stage where I'd sell both in the summer and cut my losses.
JObe did even better coming off the bench v Plymouth. I think we have burned him out as he's a shadow of the player he was at the start of the season. He needs a rest
It was really refreshing to Jobe’s performance in that position, maybe it was because he had a bit more time on the ball or less pressure to make something happen. Whatever it was I’d be very tempted to start him there and give Ekwah a break. I mean what do we have to lose
I'd send Hemir out on a season long loan to a top end L1 team. Get him 50 odd games in men's football at a lower level and see what comes back. Rusyn is a tricky one - the kids doesn't speak the language yet, his wife and kids weren't with him until recently and we haven't played to his strengths. We need to decide if he's a striker, or a wide forward. Do we change our system to suit him. or is this just another failed striker signing that we need to cut our losses on?
Actually considering Dodds' habit of going for 5 at the back against the top clubs I can also see him going for a formation like the below. This is NOT what I want and I think would lead to us starting like we did the other night. But he could pick the same 11 I went with above but go with the below as a formation: Patterson Hume Seelt Ballard Hjelde Styles Rigg Neil Ba Jobe Aouchiche
Really looking forward to this one. Would be a good thing mentally to avenge that hammering from early in the season. Both of us are every different teams now mind so I don't think we can take too much from that game. Think it'll be a tough match though. The Saints fan in me makes your five straight defeats more than a bit nervous, especially as by all accounts you played well the other night. You've been a bit of a bogey side for us in recent times (bar the obvious) so definitely don't see this being easy for us. It's a must win for us if we want to keep our slim auto hopes alive given the fixture stack up we'll have in April and I do favour us to get the job done too. I know we've lost our last two at home but generally we're a much different beast at St Marys than we are away and you'll have to defend well while carrying a threat to get anything. We've been shocking defensively again recently like early season but that mainly coincided with Downes being out and he returned on Saturday at Brum so hoping thats about to change. Yesterday's postponement might help us in the respect too. Is Clarke still out? That could be huge for us if so. I was shocked that you returned some tickets as I don't ever recall you not bringing the full 3k for a league game before. We've nearly sold out so should be a great atmosphere hopefully. Good luck for the rest of the season after Saturday. Have a bit of a soft spot for you lot from spending a lot of time on this board going back a few years and given your mini rivalry with the blue few in league one. Had some **** times recently so would be nice for you to have some success again.
I don't normally like to predict or suggest lineups or formations but, based on what I saw the other night and the stats @Scout73 posted earlier on, I'd hope Dodds will go for a fairly conservative 4231, with Neil and Rigg as the two in the midfield (with Jobe and/or Ekwah coming off the bench) and Aouchiche as the 10.
I think you have the back 5 right, but the rest will look like Leicester. I believe Dodds think the back 5 requires a tall striker rather than a runner, so expect Hemir or Burstow to start when we go 5 at the back.
Saints fan here. FYI, as of now, road closures are still in place and the fire that caused the Preston game to be postponed is still going, albeit a lot more controlled now. There's also the clean up operation in the stadium itself after ash and debris was blown onto the pitch and stands. If you have a ticket for game, please keep a close eye on what is going on - it's far from certain the game will take place on Saturday as currently scheduled.
