Southampton resume competitive action on Tuesday evening when they play host to Lincoln City in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.
At a time when the Saints occupy 19th position in the Premier League standings, the visitors travel to St Mary's sitting in 14th spot in League One.
Match preview
© Reuters
When Nathan Jones agreed to depart Luton Town for Southampton, he was aware that he would face just one game in charge before a lengthy break in action due to the World Cup.
Nevertheless, the new Saints head coach may have been content to have a bedding-in period, allowing him to prepare for an important six-month period for the club.
Sitting two points adrift of safety, Jones's target is to avoid relegation from the top flight, a division where Southampton have collected just five points from their last 10 outings.
Southampton even needed penalties to progress into the last 16 of this competition, edging out Sheffield Wednesday after being held to a 1-1 draw by the League One giants.
While Southampton have recently enjoyed a training break in Spain, they have participated in no friendly fixtures ahead of the resumption.
As far as Lincoln City are concerned, this competition provides them with a chance to make amends after losing in the FA Cup to non-league Chippenham Town.
Since that defeat, Mark Kennedy's team have suffered just one defeat in seven matches, a run which has included beating Bristol City in the EFL Cup and Everton Under-21s in the EFL Trophy.
The postponement at the weekend has halted the Imps' momentum to a certain degree, although Kennedy may have been content with an unexpected rest period ahead of the hectic schedule to come.
Although Lincoln have won four of their 10 away fixtures in the third tier, their last two league matches away from home have ended in defeat to Port Vale and Shrewsbury Town respectively.
Team News
© Reuters
Having recovered from a thigh injury, Kyle Walker-Peters may come back into the Southampton XI for this contest.
Jones is likely to want to line up with his first-choice XI, potentially with a back three again like he used during his time with Luton.
Armel Bella-Kotchap and Mohammed Salisu, who were part of Germany's and Ghana's World Cup squads respectively, should feature in the defence, while Romeo Lavia is fit again after a knee injury.
Despite the entertaining win over Everton Under-21s last time out, Kennedy's starting lineup is expected to look more like the one which begun the goalless draw with Wycombe Wanderers on December 10.
Daniel Mandroiu is arguably most likely to come into the team after proving his fitness with two outings after a six-week absence.
Southampton possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Bella-Kotchup, Caleta-Car, Salisu, Perraud; Ward-Prowse, Lavia, S. Armstrong; A. Armstrong, Adams
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Rushworth; O'Connor, Jackson, Walsh; Poole, Virtue, Sanders, Robson; Vernam, House, Mandroiu
We say: Southampton 2-0 Lincoln City
With no game at the weekend, Lincoln make the long trip to the South Coast fully refreshed. However, they are likely to take on a Saints side full of first-team players, leading us to predict a comfortable victory for the home side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
