Russell Martin will not be able to take up his place on the bench for the league cup tie against Stoke City and will be sitting up in the stands, but who else in the squad is treading on thin ice.

Russell Martin will not be able to be on the bench for the visit of Stoke City on Tuesday night after picking up his 3rd yellow card of the season, managers get a suspension if they pick up 3 yellow cards, this is a lower threshold than players, because in essence there is only one offence a manager can commit and that is dissent.

The threshold is 19 games, half the season and most managers don't pick up touchline bans this early in the campaign, we are not yet half way through the first tranche of 19 games and Russell Martin has been booked 3 times in 9 games.

That does not suggest a manager who is in control and that does not augur well for Saints, it highlights the pressure that the manager is feeling and when you are not in control of yourself, you do not make good decisions.

However in truth a manager sitting in the stands is not much of a handicap these days, with modern technology and the ability to communicate with his coaches on the bench from the stands, it should not be an issue.

However we have some players in the squad who are walking the tightrope of totting up yellow cards and could well be missing for some crucial games if they are not careful.

The first threshold for players is 5 yellow cards in the first 19 games meaning a 1 game suspension, so who is approaching this mark.

First up is Flynn Downes who picked up a yellow card at Manchester City after a tackle where he clearly played the ball, that now leaves him on 4 yellows for the season, so I think it is fair to say that he won't figure against Stoke City on Tuesday night and risk picking up a yellow card that will see him suspended against Everton on Saturday.

However he will walk that tightrope against the Toffee's knowing that if he is booked then he will miss Wolverhampton Wanderers the following weekend.

We have 3 players on 3 yellow cards, Adam Lallana also picked up a card at Manchester City and now has 3 to his name, also joining him are Taylor Harwood -Bellis and Tyler Dibling, however the good news is that they will all be available for the two crucial games against Wolves and Everton, unless of course they paly against Stoke and get booked or pick up a red card.

On two cards we have Mateus Fernandes, Yukinari Sugawara, Adam Armstrong, Jan Bednarek, so the hope is they have a chance of getting through the bulk of the 19 game period without suspension, although it could be a close run thing.

On a single yellow card are Jack Stephens, Ben Brereton Diaz, Charlie Taylor, Kyle Walker-Peters, Maxwel Cornet, Ross Stewart & Ryan Manning, however KWP aside none of them have had much game time so far, so they should all get through the 19 game period, although if Russell Martin stays in charge, Jack Stephens will play a lot more than he has, as it was suspension that had culled his appearances and therefore his ability to pick up yellow cards.

So I think the Stoke City game will firstly be picked with having players available for the two games coming up in the Premier League, Flynn Downes will definitely not play and if I was Russell Martin I would not pick Adam Lallana, Taylor Harwood Bellis or Tyler Dibling.

I would not expose any of them to picking up a yellow and thus risking picking up another card against Everton and missing the Wolves game.

Photo: Action Images

landsdownsaint added 16:47 - Oct 28 Ralph was a good premiership manager , Nathan jones was nowhere near PL but RM I’m sure will be but it’s not gonna be at our club , he needs to go now , not just for us but his own career .
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Bowlercow added 17:31 - Oct 28 RM getting booked 3 times just shows how much passion he has for our club and our team How could he not protest at the card on Saturday? It was the worst decision by a referee since the Saturday before Some of their calls have been dreadful and would test the patience of a "SAINT"
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