Eckert promises changes for Blades clash

The second of a three-game week, culminating in Sunday’s south coast derby at Fratton Park, the head coach is keen to inject some fresh energy into his Saints team.

Eckert insisted the nature of the schedule necessitates changes, and his desire to switch things up is not purely down to a disappointing run of form.

“There are going to be some changes in the starting line-up tomorrow, but it is not the reason that I refer only to what has happened now, or what happened against Boro,” Eckert explained.

“I think it’s normal if we play three games a week that we need to have a certain freshness on the pitch. It’s a big, big one coming up for us on Sunday as well, so we will have a couple of changes in the line-up tomorrow.”

Eckert, 32, will come up against the vastly experienced Chris Wilder, 58, now in his third spell in charge of the Blades, having managed more than 1,000 games in his career.

“It’s a proper Championship side,” Eckert said of Wednesday’s visitors. “You see in the way they set up it is proper Championship football. I think he (Wilder) knows exactly what he is doing, he knows the club inside out, but we do also see some ways that we can hurt them, and we make sure that we come strong tomorrow.

“The physical challenge is one that you see very clearly in the games when we come out on top – we always win the physical challenge. We will need to be on top tomorrow, and this is also why we consider bringing in some fresh legs, because it’s going to be key for the game.”

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