RICKIE Lambert may soon be able to take a deserved rest – after playing in all bar 22 minutes of Saints’ matches since his signing.

Saints boss Alan Pardew was delighted his January signing Lee Barnard hit the goal trail at Norwich on Saturday, thus taking some of the load off 25-goal top scorer Lambert.

With David Connolly closing in on a return to the Saints first team, possibly as soon as this weekend, it will finally allow Pardew the chance to give Lambert a bit of a break.

Lambert has started all 39 league and cup games Saints have played since his arrival last August.

During that time, he has completed all but six of them.

All the six occasions he has been taken off have been in the last 10 minutes – in the 83rd minute once, the 84th minute once, the 86th minute once, the 88th minute twice and the 89th minute once.

That means out of a possible 3,150 minutes on the pitch (not including injury time), Lambert has clocked up all bar 22 minutes!

Full story in today's Daily Echo