Tottenham Hotspur will be missing at least four players for the trip to St Mary's as Antonio Conte tries to halt his season descending into a tame finish after it promised so much , but they will face a Saints side who have more to play for.

Antonio Conte will be missing at least four of his squad for the trip to St Mary's, but it will mean that the Saints fans will have a chance to see a Southampton old boy make a swift return with Fraser Forster in fine form in the Spurs goal.

Missing will be Hugo Lloris in goal, Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur and Ryan Sessegnon. all are out for various periods in the medium and longer term so will miss the trip to the South Coast.

Spurs have had other concerns of late, but it seems that unless there are injuries sustained in training this week they will otherwise have a full squad, Conte had this to say:

"No news, no new injuries. You know Sessegnon is out, Bissouma, Bentancur and Lloris. No new injuries. We have another training session tomorrow but fingers crossed I hope for nothing different."

Emerson Royal and Ivan Perisic were going into last weekend, but they played a part and so assuming they have suffered no adverse reaction they should feature.

Spurs will bring at least three old favourites to St Mary's, on the pitch they will have Fraser Forster in goal plus Pierre Emille Hojbjerg in the midfield, both will receive varying receptions, Fraser Forster should hopefully receive a warm one, having given good service and left at the end of his contract after 8 years at the club.

Hojbjerg less so, having been seen to have left under a cloud and at the end dropped by Ralph Hasenhuttl perhaps suggesting that having been tapped up by Spurs his attitude was not right.

But third old favourite that will not be greeted well by the Saints fans, is their plundering of the Southampton FC anthem, "When The Saints go Marching in" this has of course been Saints signature tune for many decades certainly beyond living memory of the either Saints or Spurs fans.

But in the last decade or so, Spurs fans have been up to their usual tricks of stealing other teams songs and trying to claim them as their own, it cannot be denied that they give a rousing rendition of it, but the blunt truth is it is a Southampton song, recognised as such by football fans throughout the country, although St Mirren & St Johnstone in Scotland will lay a claim to it, certainly a bigger claim than Tottenham Hotspur have.

Photo: Action Images

MytchettSaint added 09:24 - Mar 17 Richarlison yet to score for Spurs, we all know how this is going to play out….
2

IanRC added 10:42 - Mar 17 Shame that disgrace Romero is coming, yet to see a game he plays in where he should not be sent off. Given he is a Spurs player that cannot happen of course.
0

dirk_doone added 11:29 - Mar 17 Read the Spurs' messageboards. They see Forster as a vast impovement on Lloris.
1

highfield49 added 12:27 - Mar 17 Surely one of the forwards we have signed is actually going to start scoring goals? Even, the not exactly fast moving, Charlie Austin knew how to find the back of the net with some regularity.
3

sandywelsh added 12:43 - Mar 17 We need to start Mislav Orsic!!! Orsic once knocked Tottenham out of Europe with a hat-trick. In his last four-and-a-half seasons he has scored 99 goals in all competitions. Why is he not starting for goal shy Saints?
3

JoeEgg added 13:52 - Mar 17 Coudln't agree more with giving Orsic a chance - I mean it cant get any worse than the previous lot! Selles I think was so encoraged by the 10 men Man Utd result that he thought he had cracked it! His team selection for Brentford, even BEFORE hindsight, was bizarre, and the goal shy players just went through the motions as before! If the manager repeats his Brentofird team selection and tactics we are doomed. Spurs WILL score sooner or later. Last roll of the dice its as simple as that!

3

Ali_Diarea added 15:03 - Mar 17 Sadly Forster and Hojberg would walk straight back into our starting eleven and be a vast improvement on what we had against Brentford. We’ve gone so far backwards despite spending tens of millions in two transfer windows
6

DellBoyWally added 15:35 - Mar 17 So Spuds will be 4 players short? But I'm sure their 7 will still beat our 11! After all they only need 1 goal to guarantee at least a draw and 2 to guarantee all 3 points
3

HythePeer added 23:53 - Mar 17 Lawro predicts a Spurs win...we're safe!!
1

JimmyMeliaPhD added 01:17 - Mar 18 Selles's selection tomorrow will be interesting. I'm more and more thinking he's been the "brains" behind many months of stupid selections and terrible substitutions. In today's Echo he says how happy he is with Moi Elyounoussi. He surely is having a laugh, no? If he is one of our front four, we already know we're not going to score a goal. Plus Adams, he hasn't got a goal since the middle of November but keeps getting picked. Sulemaina is getting a lot of time but he hasn't even hinted at scoring since he's been here. And the less said about Armstrong, Mara and Walcott the better. Stuart Armstrong and Onuacho MUST start, and what would be the risk in putting Orsic on to replace anyone at all? He can't be less effective than any of them. But like so many managers Selles seems to have a "shape," and a "structure" and a "profile" to maintain, and already seems inflexible about ti, even in the face of failing results. A bit of thinking outside you own box is what's needed, Mr Selles!

1

Blogs 31 bloggers

Colchester United Polls