The Yeovil game will give some of those players who have played little part so far this season a chance to show they can play a part in the rest of the season.

With both Gaston Ramirez and Dejan Lovren unlikely to be back until the middle of March at the earliest it gives a great opportunity for the likes of Jos Hooiveld and Yoshida to get back in the side and with Osvaldo's future looking even more uncertain, it will also mean that Sam Gallagher and other youngsters might also be getting more game time.

There will be those recoiling in horror at the thought of some of our fringe players on the pitch, in football these days there are too many "shock horror" tabloid headlines and this has trickled down to the fans and bred a certain type of supporter who is just as likely to be screaming abuse at one of his own players than support them.

What those detractors of the likes of Guly, Fox, Gazzaniga, Hooiveld & Yoshida should remember, apart from the fact to have one whipping boy in a squad is one to many, to have five is disgusting, is that all these payers do wrong is to pull on a shirt and try their hardest, yes perhaps they are not of the standard we would have liked, but that is not their fault and they are better players for Saints than our record signing who will have missed at least six games through suspension for alleged violent conduct both at Newcastle & on the training ground. There is a time to express opinions on players and that i in the pub or on message boards.

But all of those players above have played their part in winning points both this season and last, Fox played in a great win against Man City last season as well as a hard fought win against Swansea this, Yoshida was good enough against Cardiff as was Gazza and all of them have done Saint proud at times.

There are many predicting total collapse for Saints without Lovren, but when Pochettino arrived last year we had played exactly the same number of games as this 22, we got 19 points out of the last 16 games back then with the same defence we will have to use for the next couple of months, if we repeat that points total, as meagre as it was, then we will have 50 points and last season that would have been good enough for 8th, this season it would probably be 9th.

Whether we like it or not, Nicola Cortese divided opinion and thus it meant that for the bulk of his reign we had a club both internally and out that was never truly united and all kicking in the right direction, one thing that was for sure is that didn't help matters, whatever we achieved there was always the feeling that perhaps unity in all areas might have got that little bit more out.

So our fringe players now have to do their bit and in the stands us supporters have to do ours, we have to get behind them and make sure that this is the 5th season in the row that we have something to remind us of in the future.

Photo: Action Images

ExiledSupporter added 09:51 - Jan 24 Absolutely the right message Nick What we have achieved this season has been very largely without Ramirez, but I am a good deal more concerned about Lovren's absence. Keeping Cork in the team and on the pitch seems to me to be crucial going forward. I share your confidence that the fringe players will do their best for the club, I suspect that if they fall short of that standard then it will be because some of the imbecilic fans in the ground will have been venting their frustrations on those players who have had little regular football and will probably be neither match fit nor match sharp, through no fault of their own.

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davepid added 19:02 - Jan 24 Nic, I went to the Swansea game. Fox was not very good, constantly out played by Dyer. We should have lost the match but a Boruc played well and we got lucky.
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