Gordon Strachan has admitted he will not risk any player carrying an injury which could rule them out of the FA Cup final.

With only four league matches remaining and his side rooted in the middle of the Premiership, the Saints boss, pictured left, has confessed he has one eye trained on next month's showpiece final with Arsenal and is looking to have as many players fit as possible.

And he confessed that, if that means them having to miss league matches to ensure their participation at the Millennium Stadium on May 17, then he'll leave them out.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's game at The Valley, Strachan said: "We've got to focus on Charlton but in saying that we have to tell the truth - if we've got a few injuries that might get worse by playing and affect them for three weeks time, then I'll not play them. It's as simple as that.

"We can't take chances. If it was a relegation battle we were involved in and players had to play, then fine.

"If we were going for the Champions' League and we needed another three points, then fine - we'd go for that as well.

"But if we're in the middle of the table and I still think I've got players I can pull in either side and say 'OK we can put him in or him in,' then we'll do that to protect players.

"This is not a rest - I'm talking about genuine injuries here.

"If there's somebody feeling a bit of a strain in their hamstring or there's a knock that we don't want to aggravate, then we'll have to protect players.

"This is the biggest game for this club in the last 27 years and everybody wants to be involved in it so let's see what we can do. We'll look after everybody."

Strachan was pleased with his team's impressive performance against Leeds last week when they proved that the cup was not weighing on their minds.

But he says he is free to think about and added: "We asked the question last week of how were they going to react and, within seconds of the game kicking off against Leeds, we knew 'yeah, they're ready.'

"The way they started answered anybody's questions of how they were going to perform and whether they were they thinking about the cup final?

"Every question I get asked there's something about the cup final in it, so why shouldn't I think about it as well instead of going blank? Of course I'm thinking about it.

"The fans are focussed on it - I see them waving flags out of their cars when they see me, so it's plain to see everybody's thinking about it.

"But the players know they can't think about it while they're playing in a Premiership match."