Francis Benali said on Radio Solent that this could yet be the best ever season, he is right can something special happen at Wembley tomorrow !

Sorry to be repetitive but for someone like me who has supported the club since the early 1970's I have hung on the result of somewhere around 2,300 games in the League, the FA Cup, The League Cup, UEFA/Europa League and this is not counting the tournaments that don't really matter like the ZDS Cup, Texaco Cup, JPT and a couple more I can't remember.

In that time I have seen maybe 20 games that have actually mattered on the day when we have played for something important, do or die when this was the only chance and if we lost then that was it, essentially that is 4 cup finals, 7 semi finals and a number of games where either promotion, relegation or European qualification hung on a last game result.

That is actually less than 1% of the games I have supported this football club for, Sunday sees one of those games when we take on Chelsea at Wembley, it is a game when for a rare occasion we are playing for something, it is why we spent our time watching dross, it is for these moments when we can feel the edge, feel the tension and hopefully at the end of it experience that sheer joy of emotion and the memories that come with it.

If you don't want to go to Wembley because of the way this season has panned out and the lack of entertainment, then more fool you, you might not get another moment like this for years, I for one am going to go to Wembley and enjoy it, if we lose then we lose, but I would rather we be there and compete than not be there.

This does not make me a superfan, it merely makes me a football fan, someone who follows their team and wants it to do well, but more importantly wants to experience that rare moment of joy when it happens, anyone who was at Anfield in the semi final 2nd leg last season will know what I mean.

So tomorrow is all about winning and the FA Cup brings out shocks, we need to ply with the passion that we showed in the first 70 minutes last week against Chelsea, with the energy and commitment we showed against Leicester, even though that did not bring goals and three points, if we do then anything can happen.

For me Mark Hughes has got the formation right, the need to keep things tight and attack, he just needs to get the confidence running high and get us on a roll.

I would stay pretty much with the team that started the last two games, the key though will be the substitutions and not losing concentration, Chelsea proved they can destroy you if you lose it just for a second.

So those going up to Wembley need to get behind their team, stay with them and make it a loud colourful day that will stick in our memories forever.

Photo: Action Images

helpineedsomebody added 11:34 - Apr 21 in 76 we went there as boys & we came back as MEN best of luck kids
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AussieSaint added 11:44 - Apr 21 Come on Saints do this for the fans....
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A1079 added 17:11 - Apr 21 For any Saints fan to want anything other than a win and an opportunity to win the cup because of the pain of this season would be trite. I hope we make tomorrow a special day and hope it transpires into another visit in a few weeks. I cannot agree though, that if by some miracle we do win the cup, that this makes it one of the best seasons ever. Like so many here, I have watched and supported Saints for decades now (since the 70's) and much of these last 2 seasons will be remembered for the wrong reasons, no matter what the outcome in the FA Cup. We have to enjoy tomorrow and hopefully a final, but I will not allow that to gloss over the over-riding feeling that many of the players and those in charge have let the fans down badly and made watching Saints a displeasure. But for tomorrow, I and hopefully most, will put aside any of the angst of this season and enjoy the day and see a memorable win.

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SanMarco added 23:07 - Apr 21 Let's forget all the bad things for one day. We are due some luck - so why not tomorrow? Cup win and relegation is a whole lot better than just relegation. It is quite right to say that a day like tomorrow may not come along again in a hurry. It was 16 years between 1987 and 2003 and then another 14 to 2017 and let's face it - we are in the second division next season and might not be on the up for a while.

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underweststand added 08:44 - Apr 22 Like you Nick, I'm a long term fan. My first match was an FA Cup match in 1959 against a Blackpool side which included a veteran - Stanley Matthews. Saints were in Third Division South at the time ...and a lot has happened since then. Saints have shown that they have the ability to raise their game against big teams, and hopefully today might be another such occasion. The first part of my strategy came right yesterday (when United beating Spurs) as I didn't fancy us against Tottenham - yet again. We're well short of our potential this season and are long overdue some " good luck ". Maybe our goal-shy strikers can finally convert a few good chances. The league situation is something to come back to next week, but in the meantime it's " do-or-die " v. Chelsea

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