LET’S not beat about the bush here.

This is a massive night for Claude Puel, just a few months into his Saints managerial reign.

An absolutely huge evening of European football awaits.

After five Europa League group games, it all comes down to the sixth and final one.

Much has been made of Puel’s squad rotation this season.

He has regularly chopped and changed for all European ties, and may do again tonight.

If he does, and his gamble fails, he had better steal himself for a backlash.

Publicly, Puel has claimed he does not know his strongest side.

I find that hard to believe, up to a point.

Jose Fonte is his skipper, a Euro Championship winner last summer. Surely HE has to be in Puel’s best team?

Charlie Austin has scored almost half of Saints’ Premier League goals this season. Surely HE has to be in Puel’s best team?

Oriol Romeu has been Saints’ stand-out midfield performer this term. Surely HE has to be in Puel’s best team as well?

None of those started Saints’ last Europa League game, the dismal 1-0 loss at Sparta Prague a fortnight ago.

Whether he publicly admits it or not, Puel has fielded - on paper - stronger sides in the Premier League than the Europa League.

Maya Yoshida has started all five Europa ties, compared to just two league appearances under Puel.

Sam McQueen has made three Euro starts, compared to just one in the league.

Steven Davis, a key member of the Saints midfield in recent years, has started 12 of the club’s 14 league games in 2016/17. He is still waiting for his first Europa League start.

Austin has only started one Europa League game, the first one against Sparta in September - where he scored twice inside the first half an hour.

Saints fans can only keep their fingers crossed Puel selects his strongest XI tonight.

Having worked so hard to get in the Europa League, it would be horrendously deflating to crash out of it at the group stage.

To a degree, it is easy to sympathise with Puel. He has had a lot of games in a short space of time and of course he can’t play the same starting XI all the time.

No one is saying he should.

So far in the Europa League, he has got away with it - in so far as Saints’ destiny is still in their own hands.

Tonight, he needs to go for it.

There is nothing wrong with crashing out of a cup if you have given it your best shot.

It’s clear that, with his team selections so far, Puel has not prioritised a competition the club should be extremely proud of competing in.

Saints are not Arsenal or Chelsea, European nights do not come along every season.

When they do, they should be treasured.

They provide something different to the run of the mill league games against Palace and Stoke.

It could well be argued that the Europa League is the best Saints can realistically aim for. If that is the case - and in terms of European nights at St Mary’s it probably is - then it would be a crying shame, to say the least, to go out of it with some of the club’s best players warming the bench.