I would give Bart a second chance, because Davis needs a rest and we may yet need Bart so he needs a good game under his belt (as opposed to a ball under his body!).
You have to play Bart. If his confidence has gone it gives us three weeks to bring in some additional keeper cover!
No pressure then! Seriously, though, I agree that Bart has to play, but please don't make his whole Saints career conditional on one performance.
Puncheon could always feature don't forget - in his short return to us last January, between Millwall and Blackpool, he played in the FA Cup for us. I think I'm right in saying that he officially returns to us today (might be tomorrow).
Changed my mind a bit on this....could be important we get back into winning ways sooner rather than later. A win against Coventry will do wonders for team and fan morale.
my starting XI would be: bart butterfield, Martin, hooiveld, dickson SDR (if fit, if not, holmes), reeves, ward prouse,puncheon hoskins, forte bench: lallana davis fonte holmes harding shaw connolly
Saturdays Referee is Colin Webster, he has a mixed reputation, a bit of a curates egg, good in parts.
problem with that is, only 2 or 3 (hoskins and reeves) will make it IMO out of about 7 so it isn't that strong for the level we want to be at Players like Racine & Saville won't make it, Isgrove, Robinson & Dovey probably aren't ready for 1st team action yet but have the potential if developed right its a tough one, we'll see how adkins think of these players in time with majority out of contract end of season - id like them all to come through but thats unilikey - the academy however is another matter
I see that Nigel is indicating moves in before the Forest game. Don't think he will want to risk any more injuries so lets blood the youth!
We do to win in order to get our confidence back so if i were Nige Bart Butterfield Martin Jos Harding Holmes Hammond/Morgan JWP Reeves/Dickson Forte Hoskins Subs: Davis, Lallana, Fonte, Morgan/Hammond, Reeves/Dickson, Connoly, SDR/Puncheon,
We have some very decent young players, so we should try to make good use of them when we have the chance. Without Lambert or Guly, we're unlikely to be convincing. ............................Bart.............................. Butterfield.......Fonte.......Hooiveld.......Harding De Ridder...Schneiderlin...Ward-Prowse...Holmes ..........................Reeves............................ ...........................Forte............................. Davis, Fox, Martin, Lallana, Cork, Shaw, Hoskins/Sinclair Keep the defence strong as we don't want to be letting too many in. Without Lambert, we need to keep the ball in midfield and I think something like that will give us a decent chance. Difficult choice upfront. Connolly is the strongest option, but we might be saving him for the league. Might be wise to see if one of the youngsters can hack it while we wait for new signings and key players to return. I reckon Adkimns will start with Forte for his experience, but he's useless and I wouldn't be surprised to see one of tihe youngsters to gert a decent run out.
if we draw at Coventry, the replay will be 10 days after, so Rickie could miss two cup games and the Forest game, making him available for the Leicester game. Play 8 at the back
My team would be (layout borrowed from Itchen North Matt): ............................Bart............................... Butterfield.......Martin.......Hooiveld.......Harding Holmes...Schneiderlin...Ward-Prowse...Puncheon ...................Reeves.....Forte........................ Bench: Davis, Fox, Stephens/Shaw, Lallana, Connolly, Hoskins/Hammond, Sinclair This is based around the premise that Fonte, Guly, de Ridder and Chaplow will all still be out injured and Lambert out through suspension. I think this team would be strong enough to beat a Coventry team that is also likely to not be full strength. IMO Cork and Richardson should be rested completely, with a mixture of experience and youth on the bench depending on how the game pans out. Winning isn't the be-all-end-all, with players coming back from injury, resting 1st team, trying out fringe/youth players all being more important. I personally do not think that if we lose with this team it will have an effect on the first team players however injuries would.
