Southampton must find the right combination of players to take them to the Premier League in their final seven games of the regular Championship season.
With the recent dip in results, the automatic promotion spots look to be unobtainable for Russell Martin and his players. This leaves the club in a strange limbo, as they look to find their form ahead of the play-offs whilst rotating enough to keep players fresh for those crucial games.
The first of those seven fixtures comes against Coventry City on Tuesday night, with Mark Robins’ side desperate for a play-off place themselves and currently four points off sixth-placed Norwich City with a game in hand on the Canaries.
The two sides drew the reverse fixture 1-1, with Samuel Edozie‘s 67th-minute strike cancelling out Haji Wright’s goal 17th minutes earlier.
Coventry come into this game on a great run of form, having won four of their last five games. They will be full of confidence, especially after beating Leeds United 2-1 last time out; a result which would have done Southampton a real favour had they done their job and won at Ewood Park on Saturday.
As it was, Southampton drew 0-0 away at Rovers in a performance which gave the travelling Saints supporters little to get excited about and they must now try and end a run of three consecutive games without victory.
Southampton team news ahead of Coventry clash
Martin himself accepted for the first time that his side look destined for the play-offs as he spoke to the media ahead of Tuesday night’s game against Coventry.
The Saints boss has previously insisted that Southampton are still in the race for automatic promotion, but in his first press-conference since the stalemate with Blackburn Martin conceded that: “The most realistic option right now is to win the play-offs.”
He added: “But we also have seven games to win before then. To go into the play-offs with real momentum. If we win seven games it might be enough.”
In terms of injury news, Stuart Armstrong will return to the squad having missed his first league game of the season on Saturday due to a concussion sustained against Ipswich. Juan Larios and Ross Stewart are the only other injuries in the squad, both of whom are long-term absentees.
James Bree will also be available for selection having served his suspension for his red card in the Ipswich defeat at the weekend.
Speaking on the squad, Martin said: “There’s going to be one or two left out of the squad that will be difficult, for sure. But everyone is fit. Everyone is firing and we definitely need a reaction after Saturday.”
Southampton predicted XI v Coventry
Gavin Bazunu is as close to a guaranteed starter as you can get in goal, with Martin continuing to back the Irish stopper despite some shaky moments throughout the season.
There were few positives from the draw at Blackburn in Southampton’s last game, but when asked about the clean sheet Martin said: “It’s the only thing I’m happy about. I’m not happy with the performance one bit.”
With that in mind, the back four who secured that shut-out should start again against Coventry, with Kyle Walker-Peters keeping his place at right-back having been a surprise omission from the side against Ipswich but returning at Blackburn.
This will also mean Martin continues to double down on Jack Stephens playing as a left-back amongst growing criticism of the experimental tactic from the fanbase.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jan Bednarek will be the central defensive partnership, with Flynn Downes performing the role at the base of the midfield in front of them.
Joe Aribo was unlucky as his header hit the bar on Saturday with one of few chances to note for the away side. The Nigeria international is expected to continue after being one of Southampton’s better performers in the last couple of games.
The third midfield spot is likely to be occupied by the returning Stuart Armstrong, with Joe Rothwell set to return to the bench having struggled to grasp his opportunity when starting since he joined on loan from Bournemouth in January despite Martin praising the midfielder’s ‘quality’ and ‘professionalism’. Southampton only managed two shots on target with Armstrong absent last game, with the 32-year-old’s creativity sorely missed.
The front three is the area of the side that is the most difficult to predict. On Saturday, Adam Armstrong played centrally and was flanked by David Brooks and Ryan Fraser but the trio struggled to provide any real spark in the final third.
Armstrong has been most effective from a wide right position this season and Southampton have really struggled when he has played centrally as he did against Blackburn. Che Adams may well return to the side to give the Saints more presence as the central striker.
That may seem Armstrong return to the right wing, however this is also Brooks’ favoured position and it feels like Southampton could really benefit from getting the Welshman involved more regularly ahead of the play-offs. Therefore, Armstrong may move across to the left to accommodate Brooks.
Given the above, here is how we predict Southampton will line up against Coventry on Tuesday night.
Southampton XI (4-3-3): Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens; Downes, Aribo, S. Armstrong; Brooks, Adams, A. Armstrong