Pardew Gets Back To Business

The period of mourning that our club has gone through has left the players raring to go. They are determined to show their desire to fullfill the dreams and work that Markus did for Southampton.

Talking to the Saints Player Alan told of the frustration felt by the players as they kicked their heels waiting for the chance to get back out on the field of play.

He explained, ‘When you get through pre-season, your first game, your first cup game and then have to have ten days off, means we are crawling off the walls to get a game.’

The last few days had been tough he added. Also adding that he was pleased with the turn-out for the memorial service and the way that the fans had reacted with the tributes etc.

Turning away from the sadness felt over our leader, he added that as professionals it was now time to turn our attention to the game with Orient.

He said the atmosphere should be a celebration of Markus rather than a sad reflection of the loss. ‘He was a big joyful, happy man, and I hope the stadium is like that on Saturday, I really do.’

The break between matches has helped the injured recover, which is a big plus. Ricky Lambert is a definite starter and both Lallana and Puncheon though not 100% should also be starting.

Leyton Orient have started with two losses but AP insists that they will be a tough nut to crack. Last season they gave us one of our hardest matches so he says he is taking nothing for granted.

With less capital to throw about Leyton Orient are more a team of 100%’ers and they never stop trying and fighting. Alan added that we need to match their endeavour to get the chance to show our worth.

I have to agree with him there. If we have learned to scrap for the right to play then we should be able to win with our quality being able to shine.

Three points and an improvement on the Bournemouth performance is all we really want to see today. Against the Cherries we had to scrap before adding the quality towards the end of the match. An improvement on that and we should win with a modicum of comfort.