Marian Pahars is aiming to make it six of the best when Saints travel to Aston Villa tomorrow.

The Latvian striker has hit the net in each of the last five Premiership away games and would dearly love to extend that hot streak at Villa Park.

He said: "It will be hard to score there because they are a strong team but I will do my best. It would be great for me if I could get another.

"I seem to be scoring a few goals on the road at the moment. Maybe it is because at The Dell the chances are shared out more but because I am the only one up front in away games, the ball seem to fall to me in front of goal.

"I think it is a good system. It is hard work and it means a lot of running on my own but it is the manager's choice and I'm happy with it."

Saints boss Dave Jones justifies his 4-5-1 away formation insisting it is geared towards the pace of Pahars with others breaking swiftly from midfield to support him.

He said: "Some people have had a go because we have been playing one up away from home and saying it is a defensive system.

"But we have already scored one more goal in just six away matches than we did in the whole of last season so it can't be a bad formation!"

Saints have lost just one of their last seven league and cup fixtures but have not won in seven Premiership games.

They have been beaten in only three of those but Jones added: "We need to turn draws into wins and to be more consistent when we take the lead.

"That means not conceding silly late goals when we are in front. I am not saying we deserved to win at Wimbledon overall but we should have done once we were a goal up with a minute to go.

"Likewise we had the last chance at Manchester United and should have won the game from that position regardless of what had happened before."

Apart from long-term casualties and the suspended Kevin Davies, Saints have virtually a full squad available as they look to beat Villa for the first time since December 1994.

Jones has to decide whether to recall Matthew Le Tissier who was left on the bench at Wimbledon but who has scored 11 goals in 19 meetings with Villa since 1988. He is still searching for his 100th Premiership goal to join the exclusive ton-up club.

Left-back Patrick Colleter is pushing hard for a place but Wayne Bridge is ruled out by tonsilitis.

James Beattie has been included in the england Under 21 squad for the one-off qualifier against Yugoslavia on November 14.

The game has been reduced from two legs to a one-off in Luxembourg after UEFA decided Yugoslavia could not host a fixture because of the political upheaval.

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