Saints look to put the disapointment of the FA Cup exit behind them and show that their is still much to play for in the league.

Mauricio Pochettino spent a good part of his press conference back tracking this week, whilst I have some sympathy for him in that the team he put out despite a few changes wan't as bad a some would make out, for many its soured their views on the manager and he now needs to show that he understands the English game and what makes the supporters tick.

He undoubtably underestimated just what the supporters of Saints want and that is to see their team compete for trophies and glory, if he didn't understand that this time last week he certainly does now.

So as he considers his team for the trip to West Ham he also needs to consider that this is a crucial point in his relationship with the club, the season at the moment feels like an anti climax and Pochettino needs to reverse that feeling and show that he and the team are still focused and ready to laucnh a barnstorming end to the season.

One thing the manager needs to do though is use his squad a little better in the coming weeks and make sure that we utilise more than just the starting line up.

First big decision for the manager will be in midfield, form and fitness dictates that really Jack Cork should be starting with Wanyama on the bench, Cork has earned the right to keep his place and whilst I like Wanyama as a player and feel that he could be useful against a physical Hammers side, don't feel that he has shown he is worth recalling over Cork, if a manager is to retain the respect of his squad he has to show that there is no favouritism and the team is picked on merit, if Wanyama plays at Upton Park and Cork is on the bench then I do not think that is right.

Pochettino also has a Dejan Lovren ready for battle again, I could make a case for him playing, certainly in the longer term we need him back as quickly as possible, but the fact is he probably isnt quite ready to return yet, we saw at Fulham when Wanyama was played when he clearly was no where near match fit what can happen, we were lucky there, West Ham are a better side than Fulham they will not be so charitable.

Otherwise apart from whether its the strength of Chambers at right back or the speed of Clyne, the rest of the side picks itself, hopefully Sam Gallagher will be ready to return on the bench to offer us another attacking option.

West Ham have revived in recent weeks, they looked dead an buried four games ago, but a draw at Chelsea followed by three straight wins has seen them bounce up the table from the bottom three to eleventh showing how tight it is down there, however they are still 11 points behind us and a win for us would stretch that to 14th and that would be a big step forward as our job now is to concentrate on winning games and if we do that firstly stretching the gap between us and the clubs below us and secondly to see if we can hunt down Man Utd and Everton, I think Spurs may be a game too far.

So a big game for Saints for more than one reason, we need to show that the season is not going to finish as an anti climax but be a great ending, we need to show that we can use the squad to effect, we need to increase the gap between us and the bottom half, but most importantly we need to keep closing in on the clubs above.

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