SAINTS manager Russell Martin said he is set to name a "strong" team to face Everton in the Carabao Cup but insisted there will be rotation.

Martin made 11 changes to his side when they visited Championship outfit Cardiff City in the second round of the competition last month.

Saints won 5-3 in the Welsh capital but still hunt their first points of the Premier League season after a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday.

They visit Everton's Goodison Park up next on Tuesday, September 17 (7:45pm), with Sean Dyche's Toffees the only team behind Saints in the league.

Previewing the cup tie, Martin told the Daily Echo: "It's the next game so it's the most important one now but there will be changes.

Russell Martin insisted the next match is the most important oneRussell Martin insisted the next match is the most important one (Image: Stuart Martin)

"There will be players who need to stake a claim for their place in the team because we haven't won at the weekend, albeit there's so many positives.

"Then there will be some players we need to build on today, grow and try to improve on their performance and learn again in our way of doing things. 

"I'm quite excited about it actually. I think it's a tough fixture for a cup game and going away but I think it'll be a really good one."

Martin confirmed Saints will not take as young a squad as the one in Cardiff, in which academy lads Romeo Akachukwu and Joe O'Brien-Whitmarsh made debuts.

Among the substitutes who came on that night was defender Armel Bella-Kotchap, after his permanent transfer to Bundesliga's Hoffenheim collapsed.

The majority of transfer windows across the world are now closed with Bella-Kotchap - and the likes of Paul Onuachu and Kamaldeen Sulemana - still here.

Martin left the door open to their involvement and did not rule out a return for wantaway players on the fringe of his squad.

He said: "We have got a lot of players, it depends on the way they train and where they're at after the transfer window's shut pretty much everywhere now. 

"They're training really, really well so I guess you'll see on Tuesday at the moment. I'm open to things changing and I'm open to being surprised as well."

"Managing the squad will be interesting. I think we'll just give them every bit of energy we have," Martin continued. 

"We had two training sessions on Friday, the squad today and then the nine guys that weren't training and gave them the same amount of energy and respect. 

"One team is preparing to win a game, one team's trying to stay fit and stay motivated and stay ready for a performance on Tuesday.

"We'll do it in the best way we possibly can by giving them everything we've got on the training pitch, treating them properly and then that's all you can ask for in return.

"Some will come into the squad, maybe into the team, some will fall out of it and then we'll reassess it in January. It doesn't worry me.

"I think we have to be creative and inventive with training to keep everyone engaged and so people are not standing on the sidelines and watching.

"We usually have a squad that's too small so it'll be interesting for us and our development and how we can work around that and things we can learn from it."