The Premier League is back to St Mary's and its a South Coast clash with Brighton to kick off the season's re start, so what side will Nathan Jones put out for his first Premier League team selection.

Effectively this will be Nathan Jones first Premier League team selection, although he was in the dug out for our last game in the Premier League before the World Cup break against Liverpool at Anfield, he would have had limited input due to only having only been in the job a couple of days.

So now after 6 weeks on the training ground, a couple of behind the doors friendlies and of course the Caraboa Cup win against Lincoln under his belt, he finally gets to show Saints supporters that he can cut the mustard in the Premier League.

The worry for him is that in both of the games that have been played since his arrival, the team has conceded in the first 5 minutes of the game and meaning that they then have a big mountain to climb.

So his first job will be to shore up a defence that has been leaking goals, will he start with a back three, perhaps matching Brighton who play in this way, or will he go to a back four where Saints have looked more comfortable.

The problem with a back three in the months before the mid season break was that with injuries to key players, we didn't have the personnel to play it, in truth until Tino Livramento returns, I still think that we will lack strength on the left of the pitch to play two wing backs effectively.

In my opinion Romain Perraud is comfortable in a back four, but doesn't have the engine to operate as a wing back and get up and down the pitch as required, we need to have those in the side who can play that role otherwise the team lacks balance and opponents will target weak areas.

So it will be interesting to see which formation at the back Jones selects for his home Premier League debut.

Before the World Cup break I felt that scoring goals aside, a lot of our issues were down to injury rather than a lack of ability, we missed Romeo Lavia and Kyle Walker Peters for a long period as well as Armando Bella Kotchap for a shorter time, this put pressure on our defence both in terms of who was playing in it, but also the protection it was getting from those in midfield.

This in turn put pressure on the attacking side of the game with James Ward Prowse having to sit deeper to replace the injured Lavia, as well as a lack of creativity down the flanks were we are yet to find a player who has truly made himself indispensable.

Hopefully now we have some of the injured back we can start to continue the progress that we seemed to be making in the earlier part of the season.

If we do that and add a striker in January, then I think we can pull clear comfortably.

But back to today, I think Jones will revert to a back three of Bella-Kotchap, Caleta-Car & Salisu.

In the centre hopefully Lavia will be fit and join James Ward Prowse in the centre, so the big question is who will play as wing backs, Stuart Armstrong would be in my team and he looked good against Lincoln, but the left hand side is more tricky.

I think he will stay with Perraud, although he could go for Djenepo, who played the role earlier in the season.

So that leaves 3 positions empty and whether we go for a front three or use someone in behind two strikers.

Moi Elyounoussi perhaps looked the best option here, he played well against Lincoln, but the question is where to play him, do we play him out wide, indeed he could be employed as one of the wing backs, although personally I don't think he is good in that role.

Or do we play his as an out and out striker alongside Che Adams.

The final position be it as a striker or in midfield dependent on the formation is wide open, there are some who will clamour for Samuel Edozie who impressed against Lincoln in the final 20 minutes on Tuesday, but Brighton are a different class than Lincoln, so I would be surprised if Jones throws him in at the deep end and saves him for the impact off the bench.

Joe Aribo played no part against Lincoln and given his form before the break that seemed strange, was he being held back to Boxing Day or has he not impressed Jones, we will perhaps find out today.

Adam Armstrong has been criticised in some quarters and he has become the latest whipping boy for some, against Lincoln he was not great but he did create chances for others, perhaps the one good chance we had in the first half aside the goal was created by Adam Armstrong when he burst through and laid the ball into the the path of Elyounoussi who couldn't quite meet the ball cleanly, but still forced the keeper into a decent save.

Brighton themselves have injury problems and will be lacking three of their most consistent players in the first part of the season, in Adam Webster, Alexis Mac Allister and Danny Welbeck.

Historically the home side never wins in this game, indeed you have to go back to season 2011/12 for the last home win, a run of 10 league games and one League Cup game for the last home win, back in what turned out to be our promotion season, each side won their home game 3-0.

But Saints have to make this game a win, they need to build the confidence again, the game against Lincoln will have helped, although it wasn't a great performance it will have helped mentally to get a win under our belts and hopefully will aid us going into this one.

This is the first of a number of games that by the start of February will shape the final third of the season.

I know that the appointment of Nathan Jones has not been well received in some quarters, but it was the change of manager that these same people demanded two months ago.

This being the case we have to go with what we have, it is a new regime in the dug out and we have to back it, the question that we have to ask ourselves is whether we want a Premier League club next season or would we rather spend our time whinging about being a Championship club.

Everyone around Southampton FC have to kick in the same direction for the next 5 months, we need to create that Spirit of Southampton that so evident at the Dell in the 1990's when we got ourselves out of far stickier positions than this one.

If we do that then this football club can pull itself clear of relegation and make progress going forward, lets make this game a moment that we will look back on as when the season changed, both on and off the pitch.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 12:16 - Dec 26 This game is more of a test for Gareth Jones than it is for the team. Will he persist with " Ralph's first 11 " , and what formation will he start with. The fans know the players capabilities - and their shortcomings- although everyone can show up well - on the day, but the main problem remains the many chances that we create, but fail to convert and the stats. supporting that are miserable to say the least. in the last 8 Prem. games we have managed 95 shots - and scored just 6 times. No-one showed up very well on Tuesday, and thankfully we had already won the tie , when Edozie and Adams missed golden chances that were laughable, if not sorrowful. Let's hope that NJ can turn the tide and get us up out of the drop zone by New Year.

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gazbag1976 added 12:44 - Dec 26 I would play Lyanco holding Center Mid. We need height in that area, we have seen he has the skills, his passing is accurate, he is surprisingly quick and he is genuinely scary. A bit like a reverse Griezmann move, technically, but with added scare. Saints could have had me as manager at half the cost, just by the way.
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Kenm added 12:47 - Dec 26 even though we won !, our performance was BAD, and against a lower league team !, IF Saints put on the same performance for this and next number of games we can say hello to the championship, especially if we don't sign a striker ?
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DellBoyWally added 13:52 - Dec 26 The owners seem to be buying up "smaller" clubs in lower leagues. Perhaps that's where they see Saints?!?! A breeding ground for talent rather than spending to compete in the PL. As regards the team, there won't be too many changes from RH's teams; there aren't the players. If we'd bought a decent, proven striker in the summer we'd probably be around mid-table and still have a proper manager rather than a major gamble with the future.

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mikesaint added 16:59 - Dec 26 JONES OUT!!!!
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