SAINTS followers are set to step on to a roller-coaster ride of emotions on Sunday.

History will tell you that there is nothing more unpredictable in football than an FA Cup semi-final.

Saints may be seen as the odds-on favourites to win against First Division also-rans Watford at Villa Park but I'll tell you what - Gordon Strachan, nor his players, will be thinking that way.

They will see it as 11 against 11 and may the best men win.

It should be Saints. They are the better team. The league positions of the two sides prove that beyond doubt.

But semi-finals are football's great levellers.

Southampton Football Club only need cast their mind back to their own semi-final experiences in 1976, 1984 and 1986 to know that nothing quite goes to plan.

The only semi-final they won in modern times was against Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge and those who were there playing and watching will remind you that the whole issue hung delicately in the balance until well into the second half.

Saints had begun the game as favourites because, like on Sunday, they were a division higher than their opponents. But like Watford, Palace had turned the formbook upside down on the way to the last four.

Their passage into the semis had, in fact, been more difficult than Southampton's and in their manager Malcolm Allison and their coach Terry Venables, they had two leaders more than capable of plotting and planning the unexpected.

The fact that they didn't was down to a disciplined defensive performance by Saints and ultimately a flash of class from the likes of Peter Osgood and Mick Channon which created the opportunities for first Paul Gilchrist and then David Peach, from the penalty spot, to score the all-important goals.

It was really that extra class which tipped the scales because minutes before Gilchrist's opening goal, David Swindlehurst, Palace's main striker, had missed a good chance. Had he taken it, the most glorious chapter in Southampton's history might never had been written.

Fast forward on to 1984 and Saints, with seemingly a much stronger side than in 1976, went to Highbury as strong favourites to beat Everton.

But the luck of the draw had worked against them. Watford, then a top flight side, had come out of the hat against Plymouth. The big two left in, Saints and Everton, were pitched against each other.

Saints were riding high in the old First Division and destined to finish second to Liverpool. But against Everton it never happened for them.

The dice were loaded against them from the start when they had to gamble on playing their half-fit playmaker Steve Williams. Even so, they still created the better chances but found the Everton keeper Neville Southall in unbeatable form.

But to be candid, Saints, with Williams, pictured right, under par, didn't play to their best and as the game went into extra time Everton were growing in strength and confidence and just about had the whip hand when Adrian Heath broke thousands of Southampton hearts with a late, late winner.

The third and last semi-final against Liverpool at White Hart Lane in 1986 proved a damp squib for Saints. Rebuilding under a new manager Chris Nicholl, they had exceeded all expectations by reaching the last four.

When they trotted out to meet the all-conquering Liverpool in north London, it was very much as second favourites.

All they could hope for was to subdue the attacking threat of that rampant cup campaigner Ian Rush and hope that the pace of winger Danny Wallace and the finishing power of striker Steve Moran would upset the odds.

But again luck was to play a major role in proceedings. Saints lost their centre half Mark Wright with a broken leg late in the first half and it seemed only a matter of time before Liverpool would strike the mortal blows.

It was a credit to the tenacity of Nicholl's men that they hung on until extra time before Rush rattled off two quick goals to send Liverpool through to Wembley.

So Saints, from bitter-sweet experience, know only too well that just one moment can turn a semi-final.

They are so often balanced on a knife edge and it's no wonder players and fans alike are a bundle of nerves.

Saints' 1976 semi-final hero Paul Gilchrist is certain that Saints won't be under-estimating the opposition on Sunday.

He said: "Most of the Southampton lads have never been here before. It will be the biggest game of their lives.

"They will be keyed up but when they go out there they will give it everything they've got. Because most of them will know that they might not get a better chance.

"The FA Cup final was certainly the highlight of my career by some distance. And it will be theirs."

So the fuse has been lit. Settle back an enjoy the fireworks, but don't be surprised if there's a slip or two between cup and lip...