Saints to be at full-strength for Sutton (From Fulham Guardian)

Saints to be at full-strength for Sutton

1:55pm Thursday 22nd July 2010

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Southampton boss Alan Pardew has confirmed he will bring a close-to full-strength side to Gander Green Lane to face Sutton United on Saturday.

The game was hastily arranged last week after managerless Premier League Fulham pulled out of their proposed pre-season friendly with the club having failed to agree a date.

The debacle could leave a £30,000 black hole in United's budget for the coming campaign and boss Paul Doswell - a good friend of Pardew's - will be hoping the Saints can partly fill the void.

Southampton have spent the last ten-days at a training camp in Switzerland and the St Mary's Stadium chief admits this weekend will be a first chance to put his League One starting 11 through its paces.

"Saturday at Sutton will be the first real game for me in terms of how we prepare and how we play," Pardew told the Saints website.

"We haven't really nailed down how we play with the team yet, we've just let them get fit and get through games.

"Sutton will be the first time we really play full strength with both barrels loaded, but it will be a tough game.

"It is never easy away from home against a non-League team."

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