Niemi
Delap Hajto Lundekvam Powell Higginbotham
Oakley Wise Quashie
Jones Fuller
The other squad members are: Prutton, Belmadi, Cranie, Folly, Blackstock, Walcott and Smith. One name in particular stands out – Theo Walcott. After a series of exhilarating displays the inexperienced youngster has made it difficult for Harry to ignore him.
The bench needs a versatile defender in Cranie, keeper in Smith and striker in Blackstock. This leaves the question of which two midfielders to include with Prutton, Folly, Belmadi and Walcott fighting it out for the final places on the bench.
Harry would surely pick Prutton over Folly, so it is a question of if he feels he can risk having two attacking midfielders on the bench. He may prefer the flexibility of a defensive midfielder and an attacking one, leaving a straight fight between Belmadi and Walcott. With Harry keen to protect Walcott this season, this may see Walcott missing out this time, although Saints fans would love to see him play.
It wouldn’t be Saints with a decent injury list that sees the likes of Pahars, Ormerod, Svensson, McCann and Kenton missing out. Tellingly Saints refer to the out-of-favour Fernandes having ‘reported a slight calf injury’, much to Harry’s reported frustration!