Southampton v Palace

St Mary's Stadium, Saturday 3.00pm

FA Cup

Team news

Palace winger Bakary Sako makes a welcome return to the squad for the first time since November after beating his hamstring injury. Yohan Cabaye is also back after completing his one-game ban.

Forward duo Connor Wickham (calf) and Dwight Gayle (hamstring) are not quite ready for action, while wide man Yannick Bolasie (hip) is still sidelined.

Saints striker Graziano Pelle has failed to recover from his knee problem, along with goalkeeper Fraser Forster who has been nine months on the sidelines.

Cedric Soares and Juanmi are both available for selection, however, Victor Wanyama begins a two-match suspension after his red card against Norwich.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

“Sako is definitely available for this one - it is really good news on that front. “He gives me a weapon that I haven’t had for five or six games. He has a shot in both feet that has got a little more venom than perhaps 95 per cent of the Premier League.

“He is important because he can get a goal out of nothing and it is something at the top of my agenda at the moment - scoring goals.

“We’ve got a good side to go to Southampton. You look at the chances of actually winning a trophy as a manager, for me it’s got to be the trophy that has utmost importance.

“Trying to win the Premier League with a club the size of ours is very, very difficult. The League Cup and FA Cup are massive for me, our fans, our clubs and our players.

“We have got 5,000 fans going down there and we have a responsibility - I do to them - that we’re very strong and we will do.”

Jason Puncheon

"The manager has made it clear how important Saturday is and I think the players are grasping at the opportunity to play. As a club and as players, we take the FA Cup very seriously and we want to get as far as we can.

"The furthest I’ve got is the fifth round but we’ve got the capabilities to go further this year and we’ll be taking that mentality into the game - it's the FA Cup and magical things can happen."

Southampton - league stats

Full league table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
12/12/2015	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 0	Southampton
03/03/2015	League	Southampton	1 - 0	Crystal Palace
24/01/2015	FA Cup	Southampton	2 - 3	Crystal Palace
26/12/2014	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 3	Southampton
08/03/2014	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 1	Southampton

All time results

Last meeting

Palace 1-0 Southampton

Saturday December 12 2015

Palace: Hennessey, Dann, Souare, Delaney, Ward, Cabaye, Zaha, Puncheon (Mutch, 85), McArthur, Bolasie, Wickham (Chamakh, 89)

Subs not used: Campbell, Lee, Kelly, McCarthy, Mariappa

Goals: Cabaye (38)

Southampton: Gazzaniga, Fonte, Yoshida (Tadic, 67), van Dijk, Bertrand, Romeu (Ward-Prowse, 79), Soares, Wanyama, Mane, Davis (Pelle, 67), Long

Subs not used: Davis, Clasie, Juanmi, Martina

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