DONCASTER AT ST MARYS

Home to Doncaster on Saturday, looks a walk in the park but.......

Saints are good at messing up this type of match as we have seen already this season a number of times. And Doncaster have held both Reading and West Ham to draws in the last few weeks.

I dont take any game for granted now and while most fans hate him Diouf does have some skill.

just think we have momentum now which should be enough for saturday, players know what is at stake so dont think they will be complacent but we will need to be patient if we don't take an early lead.

Close game for an hour then saints to come out on top 3 - 0

I have heard rumours that Lee will not be fit for Saturday. I thought he just got a minor knock, anyone know how serious it is?

looked on a cple of sites I know and nothing there about Lee having anything serious. Think NA has all season not played anyone if they are doubtful and with Guly, Sharp, Barnard, Connolly (if fit) suspect he will not risk Lee and give him another week and be ready for Blackpool.

Looks like it's going to be a warm one, hope that doesn't mean Nigel will need to use it as an excuse.

well one more home win, keep winning the home games and sure we will go up. Was hot there and like Barnsley game was going to need to be patient. Butterfield played at RB with Richardson injured and as expected no Lee or Guly so Sharp started and De Ridder started on right with Barnard on the bench.

Doncaster played 4 5 1 with Gillet their holding player and Diouf their main outlet. Even first 15 minutes, saints main threat came with balls knocked to De Ridder and one cross at the near post had their goalie going down to smother. Doncaster had a great a chance when Hoovield faield to clear the ball when he had the chance and allowed Piquionne to cut in the box and pulled the ball back to Diouf. He took to long however and allowed Cork to get in a great block for a corner.

Saints played some neat and patient football but ball never quite fell right. Lambert nearly got through but couldn't get the ball down quick enough to shoot, sharp was playing some neat link up play on left side but not a goal threat. Lallana was having a quiet game. Sharp then had probably the best chance when Fox got in a cross and Sharp had time but directed his flicked header over and wide. He probably had more time to bring down and ball was falling so had to choose between header or bringing down and shoot. Half time and goaless and to be honest despite the approach play neither goalie had a lot to do.

Second half didnt get off to a good start when after 5 minutes Lambert pulled up and was taken off. He had taken a knock in first half but hadnt seemed that mobile. From a having an abundance of strikers now down to just Sharp and Barnard. Chaplow came on and went wide right with de ridder moving into centre as a striker.

saints got that all important break through from a set piece. Saints had built up some pressure and from a corner Fox swung in a decent corner, not as high as previous ones and at some pace. Sharp got between two defenders and placed a firm header past their goalie to break the tension . Things got a bit feisty then with Pascomba and Diouf involved in most things.

de Ridder was then replaced by Barnard going up front. Game was quite open but saints looked comfortable, Chaplow was getting more into the game and playing a key role breaking up their play. Sharp had a great chance to make the game safe when another decent cross from the left side found him unmarked in middle of goal but he had to much time and headed well wide. Fortunately with 15 minutes left Sharp made the game safe. Beye for them dallied on the ball, Sharp pressured him and managed to nick the ball and ended up one on one with their goalie and buried the ball in the net. The useless ref then booked Sharp for celebrating yet never took his shirt off and simply surrounded by saints players. About par for course for this ref who was poor, definitely well over weight and think unacceptable that a professional ref can be allowed to be overweight, quite embarassing.

Saints then ran the clock down fairly comfortably, Diouf managed to get booked for dissent which to be fair could have been the case after 10 minutes. Kelvin hardly had a save to make and Doncaster's experiment of loans didnt seem to work. Quite good individually on the ball but no real team spirit. Everything went to Diouf who did show his skills but his arguing must hurt his own team. One great incidenet towards end when he was in a strop and they had a throw in near our box. They had started using a long throw but guy was slow getting there and Diouf took the throw. Unfortunately he was 2 yards on the pitch!

Davis 7 Quiet day for him in terms of shots but still had to be alert
Butterfield 6 defensively good but his distribution and crossing was poor
Hooveild 7 apart from error in first half when he looked like fouled won everything in the air.
Fonte 7 solid with Jos and enjoyed getting close on diouf.
Fox 8 good defensivley and some excellent crosses
Lallana 6 quiet game for him didnt show that much class today
Cork 8 Excellent game in the middle of the park
Schneiderlin 7 another solid game,.
De Ridder 6 some flashes in first half but was a bit predictable and doesnt look a goal threat at the moment
Lambert 6 didnt really look a threat today
Sharp 7 quiet first half but two excellent goals, played better when Rickie went off and linked well with Chaplow

subs
Chaplow 7 really did well as game wore on
Barnard 6 good to see him get some game time
Hammond 6 on at end to give Lallana a break.

Thanks again Matty. Hope Lambert's injury not serious and that he,Lee and Richardson will all be available by next Saturday.

NA seeemd to say Lambert injury was not a big issue though Guly is a "small tear" so think he could be out at least another couple of weeks. Hopefully Lee will be fit for next wekend so will have Rickie, Sharp and Lee to choose to start. Think you have to start Sharp having scored 2.