HE STANDS nearly 3ft tall and wears a top hat but he could be the key to Saints winning the FA Cup for only the second time in their history.

Without wanting to court superstition, Southampton season ticket holder Steve Eastman believes he has the lucky mascot from Saints' 1976 Cup winning side.

Now he wants to offer it to the Saints for their date with destiny on Saturday, May 17 in Cardiff.

Mr Eastman, 37, said: "All I remember was it being on the bus for the tour of the city when Saints paraded the Cup.

"In 1979 I wrote to Lawrie McMenemy and offered it to him for the League Cup final. He politely turned me down and we lost to Nottingham Forest 3-2. I want to offer it to Saints for the final but they may already have a mascot."

For much of the 27 years since Saints first won the FA Cup in 1976, the nameless mascot has been collecting dust tucked away in the loft. But with the team's greatest cup run since their sole triumph more than a quarter of a century ago and with Saints playing in yellow and blue for the final as they did in 1976, the investment banker remembered another blast from the past.

Mr Eastman, of Steinbeck Close, Whiteley near Fareham, said: "It was raffled off at the Maybush pub in the summer of 1976 after the final.

"It was won by my next-door neighbour and my granddad bought it off him and gave it to me. I was only ten at the time."

He will be travelling up to Cardiff for the big day after missing out on tickets in 1976 and he is predicting a Saints win of "2-1 or even 3-1".

But Saints already have their own mascot called Super Saint.

A spokesman said Supersaint would probably take priority on the day.