CRYSTAL PALACE will be warned all about the crowd by their manager when they travel to St Mary's for their FA Cup third round clash with Southampton.
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| Pardew is likely to get a warm welcome on the coast, but the game might be a little more frosty |
Alan Pardew spent over a year as Southampton boss, including bringing the club their first silverware in nearly 35 years when they won the Football League Trophy at Wembley in 2010, and it is still a club whom he hold very close to his heart.
And despite Southampton's patchy form this season, Pardew believes his club have been handed a distinctly tricky third round trip down the M3, especially if Sadio Mane returns to the starting line-up.
"Southampton have an outstanding manager and they have great players," Pardew said.
"The team at the moment is up and down a little bit. I think Ronald would look to try and get a more even keel with the team than he has at the moment.
"They have a couple of injuries and a suspension that’s going to impact upon selection, but make no mistake, I’ve managed down there and that crowd makes a difference.
"I’m so pleased we’re taking 5,000 fans because it’ll make a great atmosphere. I love Southampton fans dearly and they make a lot of noise so it’s going to be a great occasion.
"For the two clubs, it’s a very important game."
Palace fans might be starting to dream this January of an assault on the very upper reaches of the Premier League in a year when no one team seems willing to grasp the title race by the scruff of the neck
But Pardew is more realistic and realises that the FA Cup represents a very real opportunity for the club, especially after an early exit from the Capital One Cup at the hands of Manchester City.
"You look at the chances of actually winning a trophy as a manager, the FA Cup has got to be of the utmost importance to me," Pardew added.
"To try and win the Premier League with a club the size of us is very very difficult.
"So the League Cup and FA Cup are massive for me, massive for the fans, and massive for this club.
"We’re going to try and get a cup run. We’d have liked an easier draw - I don’t know if you can do anything about that - Southampton away isn’t particularly easy, but we’re looking forward to it.
"We’ve got 5,000 fans going down there and we have a responsibility, as do I, to make sure that we’re very strong, and I will do that."
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