Business as usual

James Beattie Southampton striker

Saints fans are up for the Cup

Is there some sort of FA Cup match this weekend?

The only reason I ask is that everything has been quiet and normal around the club this week - at least as far as the playing staff are concerned.

Of course we're aware of what a big game Sunday's semi-final is. It's the biggest domestic game in my career, although I would hope there's a bigger one in May!

The excitement in the city is really building and our supporters have been up for it for weeks.

But it's different for supporters than it is for us players.

Everything is going to be exactly the same as for any other game we have played this season

We can sense and taste the excitement, but it's important not to get caught up in it.

We've hit on a pretty successful formula this season and the main job of the boss, Gordon Strachan, this week, has been to keep everything on a calm even keel, and make it as normal as possible.

The motto is: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

For that reason, we haven't changed anything. Everything is going to be exactly the same as for any other game we have played this season.

It might be a semi-final, but we will treat it the same as other Sunday games we have played.

Saints finished on top against Wolves in the last round

We'll have a day off on Thursday, then back in for training on Friday.

We will also be in on Saturday for a training session, and then set off for Birmingham afterwards.

Once the West Ham game was over we turned our attention and focus to Watford - but that has been the same for every game this season.

I know it sounds a bit of a hackneyed cliche, but there's plenty of good sense in it.

We came through the West Ham game with a clean bill of health, and even got a boost this week when Rory Delap returned to training.

There was no let-up in commitment or effort against West Ham, and that's how it should be

The only injury we picked up against West Ham was the hurt of losing two points.

Had we won, we would have gone up to seventh place and although it's difficult to convince people, it is just as important for us to finish as high up the Premiership table as we can.

We're a pretty well-motivated bunch and the boss didn't need to do much to make sure there was no let-up in commitment or effort against West Ham, and that's how it should be.

No matter what job you do, professional pride dictates you always do the best job you can, and once the semi-final is over, we have important Premiership games to play.