Key man: Anders Svensson
Replaced Magnus Svensson in the second half of Sweden’s World Cup group game against England, and immediately changed the complexion of the match. Signed a year ago from Elfsborg for £700,000 by Stuart Gray, the 26-year-old attacking midfielder experienced a slowish start to his Saints career but he proved increasingly more effective as last season went on

Coach: Gordon Strachan
The Premiership’s resident quirky maverick. English football would simply not be the same without the Scot’s angst-suffused touchline pacings. Southampton were certainly improved by his commitment last season to inventive, attacking football which somehow transformed a previously shot-shy, relegation-threatened side into a free-scoring, mid-table ensemble. Boasts a decent, slightly daring buying record

Full squad
Goalkeepers 1 Paul Jones 13 Neil Moss	Midfielders 8 Matthew Oakley 21 Jo Tessem 18 Rory Delap 4 Chris Marsden 26 Imants Bleidelis 12 Anders Svensson 16 Mark Draper 33 Paul Telfer 29 Fabrice Fernandes 35 Kleber Chala
Defenders 2 Jason Dodd 3 Wayne Bridge 5 Claus Lundekvam 6 Paul Williams 15 Francis Benali 20 Tahar El Khalej 25 Garry Monk, Michael Svensson	Forwards 34 Agustin Delgado 9 James Beattie 17 Marian Pahars 10 Kevin Davies 36 Brett Ormerod

Strongest XI

Nationalities
England (12), Norway (2), Sweden (2), Latvia (2), Ecuador (2), Wales (1), Morocco (1), Ireland (1), France (1), Scotland (1) Total 25

Players in
Michael Svensson, Scott McDonald, Jacinto Ela Eyene

Players out
Dani Rodrigues, Stuart Ripley, Matt Le Tissier, Scott McDonald, Dan Petrescu

Instant expert
Ground The Friends Provident St Mary’s Stadium
Telephone 087 0220 0000
Capacity 32,000
Shirt sponsor Friends Provident
Ticket hotline 087 0220 0150
Can I get a ticket? Gold games £26-£30(adults). Silver games £25-£29. Bronze games £22 to £26
How to get there Buses 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19 go near ground
Club shop 087 0220 0130

New boy: Michael Svensson
Not to be confused with Anders Svensson, his namesake at St Mary’s, Michael is a 6ft 2in centre-half signed from Troyes of France for £2m. Like Anders, he was part of Sweden’s World Cup squad but, unlike his colleague, stayed on the substitutes bench

Money talk
Top earners Bridge £21,000, Pahars £18,000, M Svensson £18,000

Total wage bill £16.4m
The Saints are usually battling with the cellar-dwellers and their wage bill is only higher than four more Premiership teams, while their total turnover (£24.4m) is higher than just five teams

Where are they now?
Terry Paine The one-time Saints winger is now the Gary Lineker of sports broadcasting in South Africa, presenting a football show