Saints once again host Blackpool in the 4th round of the FA Cup as they did in 1976, will they go on to emulate the victory that day and indeed end up at Wembley winning the thing and yes we thought we had no hope of that 47 years ago too.

The chances of Saints reaching an FA cup final in 1976 were far greater than they are in 2023 and the fans had also been unhappy with their manager, who wasn't taking us to the runaway promotion push that was demanded, but all that was about to change.

Fast forward to 2023 and the situation is slightly different, but the aim is still the same hopefully we can go on a decent FA Cup run that will also see it motivate us in the Premier League.

I would expect a much changed side for this one due to several reasons, suspension, opponents in a lower league and the small matter of a do or die Carabao Cup semi final 2nd leg on Tuesday at Newcastle United being the main ones.

Blackpool are on as bad a run as Saints in their Championship campaign, although they beat Nottingham Forest in the 3rd round of the FA Cup 4-1, they have not won a game in the League since the 1st November, losing 6 and drawing 4 in a 10 game run without a win.

That Forest victory shows that they should be taken seriously so Nathan Jones has to pick his side carefully.

But I suspect that it will be a side that differs greatly from the one that played Newcastle on Tuesday, although at the back it will be a case of lacking options with neither the returning Jan Bednarek or new signing James Bree being able to play due to having represented Villa and luton respectively in the 3rd round of the competition so therefore being cup tied.

I would not be surprised to see Willy Caballero a rare game in goal, but along the back line it is anyone's guess, I presume that we might have to go to a back four, if only for the fact we only have two centre halves available, unless Nathan Joes throws in a youngster.

James Ward Prowse will obviously be a given, but in front of the defence it is anyone's guess who will fill those roles.

What we want from this game though is a victory and we will be confident of getting it even with our fringe players in the side, the truth should be that they will be too strong for Blackpool, the likes of Sekou Mara, Ainsley Maitland- Niles, Joe Aribo could all be in contention with perhaps a few of our highly rated youngsters given an opportunity.

This game is not firing the fans up, they have eyes on Tuesday and indeed the bigger picture in the FA Cup, but it is still a competition that we want to do well in, however the fans werent exactly salivating over this one in 1976 and their modern day counterparts are following suit, their will undoubtably be a lower crowd at St Mary's than there was at the Dell 47 years ago.

Photo: Action Images

Number_58 added 09:23 - Jan 28 'Verdict'? Christ, for a minute there I thought I'd overslept.
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underweststand added 10:16 - Jan 28 Sounds like you found your crystal ball Nick - How many did we win by and who scored?
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Block8 added 10:22 - Jan 28 Lets try the young strikers, you never know??
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Bulgarian added 10:48 - Jan 28 There is one thing I don't understand in our striking dilemmas. Che-Mara-Arma can possibly reveal their full potential IF a competent true goalscorer plays alongside them. We are STILL waiting for this person to embark since Ings left. OK, there are difficulties in the market and so on, but HOW this doesn't affect the playing time of Dom Ballard and JJ Morgan??? Ballard didn't stop scoring for a calendar year! He did this at EVERY level, including our first team and the Three Lions. Doesn't that count for anything? WHEN should he be deemed good enough for at least a place on the bench? Morgan is reportedly looking to leave. He is also highly valued by the coaches. HOW didn't he earn at least 5 minutes with the first team? The situation, it seems at the moment, is as follows: - maybe decent first team but we don't know for sure, because of the lack of a goalscorer; - nobody from the outside seems to fit or buy into our project; - we HAVE super talents in two youngsters, but we don't find a way to test them for whatever reason, possibly because we insist on more opportunities for the first teamers. It's a paradox, isn't it? But how this matches with our profile of promoting youn talent is beyond me.

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saintmark1976 added 10:55 - Jan 28 Nick, I hope that Jones puts out the strongest team that is available for selection. It’s no more than fans are entitled to after months of miserable ( Chelsea and Man City excepted ) home results. We need an empathetic home victory today to lift everybody’s spirits for the remainder of the season. As for the expected low attendance. Seriously, what do the club expect when they charge a minimum of £15 rising to £20 on the day to watch us play Blackpool during a cost of living crisis? It’s another example of how the management is out of touch with it’s own fan base.Any seat in the house for £10 and kids for free and it would probably be near a sell out.

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KriSaint added 17:48 - Jan 28 My verdict is a deserved win based on our first half dominance. Don't know why our (much changed but) ok playing team let Blackpool back with approximately 15 minutes to go, 2-0 down, when they scored to 2-1. Before that they actually had a great chance to equalize when our offside "trap" was non-existing, but Padeva didn't hit the target with Willy Caballero out of position (after Willy had bravely saved Padevas first attempt) 8 changes from the line up vs Newcastle was expected, and the only player i.m.o. who really didn't perform particularly well was Maitland-Niles at right back. Too sloppy. 2 fine goals by Perraud - the first a direct freekick through the wall and into the far corner - the second after fine opportunistic ball-carrying by Perraud towards and into Blackpools penalty area before a one-two with Mara and then a fine first touch by Perraud before he hammered the ball in the net. 2-0. A very good performance in defense by Lyanco i.m.o. and a ditto in attack by Edozie, who twisted and turned well, especially in the first half. The rest did ok, though Mara disappointed me apart from getting an assist. I think Nathan Jones (NJ) - overall - will be ok satisfied with the performance and the WIN :) On to round 5 in The FA Cup and on to the second leg of the League Cup vs Saudi Arabia United in 3 days time. Come on You Saints <3

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