Saints need to keep the good run going at struggling Swansea City, on the form guide it should be easy, but games like this have in the past had a strange way of biting Saints in the rear end.

Swansea City has been a happy hunting ground for Saints in recent years with two 1-0 victories and a 0-0 draw in our three appearances there since returning to the Premier League, so on paper this should not be a hard task to firstly keep our sixth clean sheet in a row and secondly secure the three points that could if results go the right way for us elsewhere, see us jump to sixth place in the League.

But to be able to do that Saints have to make sure that they are not at home to complacency, they have to make sure that they don't take their foot off the gas. They have to make sure they keep doing the things that have seen their resurgence in the last five games.

That means keeping things water tight at the back and counterattacking with speed and ruthlessness.

For their part the Swans are going to fight for their lives, they start the day only 4 points above the relegation zone, but they know that beating Saints will propel them on to 30 points and the finishing line will be in sight.

But if they lose they could be sucked into a relegation fight and it is this fear that Saints need to play on and make sure that they do not allow the home side to get a head of steam up.

As Saints fans well know from the relegation battle of the 90's, this is a crucial time for a club looking over it shoulder, its when the nerves start to kick in and self doubts appear, a team will either rise above these doubts and climb the league or be overwhelmed by them.

So Saints job is clear, keep doing what we have been doing so well for the past five games and we will be more than a match for Swansea.

Once again it will be hard to predict the Saints team and that is a good thing, Ronald Koeman has plenty of options and he has shown he is not afraid to use them.

Although he has not got the services of Victor Wanyama the scorer of last season's winning goal, that is softened by the return of Saints Mr Consistency Steven Davis and there are those that would say that this is a positive thing.

Certainly Wanyama would be needed far less in a game like this than he would be against Arsenal or Manchester United and Koeman will be looking to move the ball from defence to attack with greater speed than Wanyama would be able to do, that being the case I would not have been surprised to have seen Wanyama rested for this game even if he had been available.

Attacking wise Saints are as strong as any team in the division and the arrival of Charlie Austin is the reason for that, will he start today ? Im not sure he will, but if i'm guessing so are Swansea City.

These days Saints have a squad that is adaptable and few are certain of their place these days because of the quality in the squad and that shows just how much Koeman has improved the squad even after losing key players last summer.

This has manifested itself in the last few weeks, injuries and suspensions no longer stretch the squad as they did this time last year and this will be the key today.

Saints won't remain unbeaten for the rest of the season, they just need to make sure that today is not the today that the unbeaten run ends.

Photo: Action Images

corkcitysaint added 09:53 - Feb 13 Think you said it there Nick that we can't become complacent. Yes, we are on a great run but we need to keep working hard and keep it going. It seems to be our downfall that sometimes in a match we just flop. no spark, no fight. We need to show the same spirit we did against Arsenal and West Ham. Most importantly, we need to take our chances when presented. Had we met Swansea a few weeks ago, I would be more confident. There are always banana skins; I just hope today isn't one.. A win today (and a West Ham defeat) would set us up nicely for the run-in. C'mon lads!

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SaintBrock added 10:11 - Feb 13 Our undoing usually is a sloppy goal given away early on by individual carelessness so we must guard against complacency from our recent good run of form and concentrate fully from the kick off to ensure as far as possible the elimination of any errors. On the other hand we must not fall back on caution with slower build-ups and lots of ball possession and lateral passing but little forward progress. We need to stick to our high-speed one-touch pass and move system of play AND eliminate any errors. In other words we have to keep improving week after week and that requires 100% commitment, dedication and focus. I didn't like the idea of Forster & Bertrand not being around yesterday and that worries me more than a little especially with all the travelling involved for them and their absence from the match build-up camaraderie. It's not all about them being professionals. I am a bit scared we will not be all as one at the back today - 97% instead of 100% - and that may be the chink that lets in the error. What will happen to our new found confidence if our clean sheet record falls? Then again we Saints fans will always be filled with self-doubt, twas ever thus!

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