St Mary's FA Cup showdown sets up grand reunions

There will be more than a few reunions at St Mary’s this weekend, as Championship high-fliers Burnley head to Southampton in The FA Cup Third Round.

Sean Dyche’s side will be looking to supplement their promotion charge with a result on the south coast and there will certainly be a few mixed loyalties in both camps.

Southampton’s top scorer Jay Rodriguez was born in Burnley and signed from the Clarets in 2012 after making his name in the Championship at Turf Moor.

And Clarets defender Kieran Trippier is looking forward to rubbing shoulders with his former team-mate, whose form this season has led to an England call-up.

“Jay and I keep in contact and I have been texting him,” said Trippier, who goes into Saturday’s game on the back of a goal in Burnley’s win against Huddersfield Town on New Year’s Day.

“It’s great to see him doing so well and he deserves all he gets, so I’m looking forward to playing against him.

“If he plays on the left wing, I’m sure I’ll have some banter with him, but we are doing well and if we match them up, who knows?”

The links between the clubs do not end there either, as Southampton’s Jack Cork and Danny Fox have both been on the books at Burnley in recent years.

And Burnley’s strike pair of Danny Ings and Sam Vokes both grew up in Southampton as Saints fans.

Coupled with that, Ings is an England Under-21 squad-mate of Saints pair James Ward-Prowse and Luke Shaw.

So it all adds up to present an interesting tie, with Southampton no doubt looking for a confidence-boosting result, with only one win and six losses from their last nine games.

“There are always upsets in The FA Cup,” added Trippier, 23.

“So hopefully we can go there and get the win.

“It’s brilliant to be back in the top two [after the win on New Year’s Day] and we can now look forward to Southampton on Saturday.”