Nigel Adkins will make wholesale changes for tonight’s trip to Leeds despite being a win away from the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup.

The Saints boss takes his side to Elland Road in need of a victory for a timely confidence boost and to secure a place in the last eight of the competition.

However, that will not be enough to persuade him to abandon his policy of making major changes to the team for the League Cup.

He said: “It is a very, very quick turnaround.

“In the Capital One Cup we have utilised the squad and we will do that again on Tuesday night up at Leeds.

“We have got a squad of players that all work very, very hard and we’ll utilise the squad on Tuesday evening.”

Adkins may have wished to have given the full first team a run out to try and get a win and some much needed confidence in the bank.

However, even though Saints have a blank weekend coming up with the West Brom game switched to a Monday for live TV coverage, the long trip north today comes just 48 hours after a gruelling Premier League fixture against Tottenham.

As such, and with league points being the absolute priority after a start that has seen Saints lose seven out of nine since their return to the top flight, no risks will be taken with first team stars.