CLAUDE Puel might not be certain what his best team is, but he needs to work it out and field it against Hapoel Be’er Sheva tomorrow night.

The final day Group K decider is a huge a fixture for Saints, both in the context of this season and the history of the club.

A good result will see them through to the knockout stages of the Europa League and in a strong position heading into next year.

Heartbreak at the final hurdle would be a significant blow to both the club and Puel and, given the group, and the weakness of Inter Milan, be a frustrating failure.

That’s why Puel must play whatever he believes his strongest team to be, and worry about Sunday’s league match at home at Middlesbrough on Friday morning.

Puel has insisted time and again that he doesn’t see the side who, for example, started against Arsenal as the club progressed to the EFL Cup quarter-finals as his second string, despite not boasting the likes of Jose Fonte, Oriol Romeu and Charlie Austin.

He has also tended to make the same changes for this season’s Europa League, always reversing them for Premier League fixtures.

Though Puel’s words are admirable, it is hard to get away from the sense that he must realise that Romeu, Austin and Fonte are three of his best players and, therefore, he has actually been saving his best team for the top flight.

It doesn’t really matter much either way. All that matters is that Puel picks whatever he thinks is his strongest team.

The side he selects not only needs to be technically and physically capable of beating Be’er Sheva, but also mentally able to handle the potential of a high pressure night at St Mary’s.

On a technical and physical level, you would back any of the possible permutations to be able to defeat Be’er Sheva at home.

If Saints’ fate had to come down to a last day game – and Puel was right to take the chance and name a changed side for Sparta Prague - you would have picked it to be at home to the Israelis.

They are no mugs, but they do not possess the kind of quality that Saints have in abundance.

Conversely, if Be’er Sheva would have been offered the chance to go into the last game, whoever it was against and wherever it was, knowing that a win, or just a score draw, would take them through, they surely would have taken it at the start of the campaign.

They arrive at St Mary’s with nothing to lose, and that makes them dangerous opponents.

Saints, on the other hand, have all the pressure on them. They are expected to make it through, they know it would be a failure to fall at this late stage.

That’s why Puel needs a mentally strong squad.

Due to the nature of UEFA’s qualification system, they need to be ready for all eventualities.

With a goalless draw or a Saints win taking them through, and a score draw or defeat enough for Be’er Sheva, it is a fascinating night in prospect.

The real high pressure will come if Saints concede the first goal, or it is goalless heading into the final stages of the game.

If Saints have to score twice that is big pressure, especially given their struggles in front of goal over the course of the season, and that the opposition will shut up shop.

If they end up dropping deep and holding on for a goalless draw you know Be’er Sheva will launch the ball into the box, and that is high pressure.

Only a routine win, which Saints are very much capable of, would make it a calm night at St Mary’s.

The defeat to Crystal Palace, and the nature of it, has no doubt derailed Puel a bit. Had that not have happened then he surely would have just thrown everything at Be’er Sheva with a sense of comfort in the Premier League.

Now though he may have half an eye of the visit of Boro.

However, in the context of the club, the history of Saints and what European progress means, he has to prioritise tomorrow’s game above all else and select his strongest side.