Matthew Le Tissier is facing up to the possibility of going out on loan to rekindle his stop-start season.

The idea of dropping down a division and pulling on another club's shirt is an almost unthinkable prospect for the gifted Saints star whose unique ability has made him one of the most feared marksmen in the Premiership.

But he acknowledges it may be the only way to get the run of first-team games he needs to pick up momentum in a rapidly stalling personal campaign.

The early weeks were beset by Achilles problems which eventually put him out for a month. Since recovering the crowd hero has found himself in and out of the team.

He headed the second goal in last night's 2-0 win for the reserves against Tottenham at St Albans but is still not sure if it will be enough to earn him a recall for the Premiership clash with Spurs a week on Saturday.

He said: "I am 31 now and want to be playing regular first-team football. It is not inspiring to play in front of a handful of people at St Albans.

"I don't want to leave - I have never wanted to go anywhere else. I want to get back in the first-team here.

"I am the sort of person who needs to be playing every week and to get a run of goals going in. I thrive on confidence which means I try more things and they start to come off.

"I need a run of games so it may be that I will need to go out on loan to get a few matches under my belt. I've not had any offers and I don't know how the manager would feel about it. But it may be a possibility.

"In the meantime I will just do my best, work hard and wait for my chance. I feel fit and ready, in fact this is the best I have felt injury-wise for two years. That makes it all the more frustrating that I can't get in but I understand it's hard to change the team after a good away win."

Manager Dave Jones said: "Matt is still a big integral part of the set-up here but I am trying to build a squad.

"I understand the frustrations of all the players who are not getting a run of games while we are picking up results. It is hard to keep everyone happy. But if I started loaning all of them out I would have no-one left and at the moment I don't want to consider it. Matty has a great talent, he just needs to keep working hard and wait for his chance as other players have done."

Skipper Jason Dodd is recovering well following surgery on a knee yesterday. Physio Jim Joyce said: "It was just a clean-out to tidy up a bit of wear and tear.

"There was no major damage which is good. Now we will have to wait and see how he progresses ahead of the Spurs game a week on Saturday. At the moment it looks as though that might be just a bit too soon."

Saints must wait to learn who they visit in the first round of the FA Youth Cup after Cirencester and Reading drew 1-1 last night.

The Saints Shop at The Dell will be continuing to clear their jumble sale stock until the weekend.

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