HARRY REDKNAPP might be starved of certain options right now, but he has a feast to select from when he chooses the centre of Saints' midfield.

Dennis Wise, Nigel Quashie, Matthew Oakley, David Prutton, Rory Delap have all, at different times, distinguished themselves in the Premiership while young Andrew Surman is also knocking at the door.

Redknapp went some way to solving the problem last night by trying a 3-5-2 wing-back system with three central midfielders.

And it largely worked during a comfortable 3-1 win over League One newcomers Yeovil Town as Matt Oakley staked his claim for a starting place with two sweet first-half strikes.

The midfielder now looks fully recovered from the injury that interrupted the last two seasons and was able to enjoy the added freedom which arose from playing in a three-pronged midfield alongside anchorman Wise as well as Prutton.

"Matty Oakley did well," said Redknapp. "He is a good player, a good lad and he got forward from that position and did well."

Saints' system also meant playing with three central defenders, while Danny Higginbotham and Rory Delap took on the roles of wing-backs.

Redknapp liked the solidity the team showed and is clearly now thinking of dropping the more traditional 4-4-2 line-up. "It's finding what system suits the players," he said. "It depends where I find the strength.

"If I find I've got three terrific centre-halves, I will play with three.

"I played that way at Portsmouth and we won the Championship. It's fitting people into the right positions. "Hopefully I will get a couple of centre-halves and I will be strong there so I may well play with three of them. "With Rory Delap at right-wing back, Danny Higginbotham at left-wing back, suddenly you can have a back five of strong players who are six-foot plus.

"That would give us a bit of a platform I would have thought."

Certainly Saints had a solid platform in the first-half, with Yeovil competing well but rarely troubling Antti Niemi. Indeed, the home side looked the livelier in the opening quarter until Marian Pahars put Saints ahead. The Latvian latched onto a blocked Higginbotham shot and coolly fired home from around 16 yards.

Saints got their second on 38 minutes when Oakley fired just inside the right post from 18 yards and the midfielder again demonstrated his class with Saints' third just before half-time after being teed-up by Prutton.

In between, Brett Ormerod, who had replaced Pahars, should really have scored his third of pre-season when he raced clear on goal only for goalkeeper Stephen Collis to smoother his effort.

Half-time saw Redknapp ring the changes with three straight swaps as Paul Smith replaced Niemi in goal, while Theo Walcott and Yoann Folly came on for Kenwyne Jones and Dennis Wise respectively.

Playing as a striker, Walcott's pace caused immediate problems, although the final touch was just lacking. And it was Yeovil denied by the post on 62 minutes as Lee Johnson hammered a 25-yard free-kick past Smith.

Midway through the second-half, Redknapp gave winger Nathan Dyer his first senior start and also introduced trialist Valery Mezague.

But neither could make any real impression before Darren Way headed home a late consolation for Yeovil. It was a decent display from Saints, although with just ten days remaining until the start of the season and new players still likely to arrive, Redknapp finds himself still weighing up various options.

He added: "It was a good run-out. We changed it around a little bit and looked very solid in the first-half and the kids came into it in the last 20 minutes or so. You learn who is good enough and who is not good enough.

"We had a look at something else and it told me who could play in that system and do the job I wanted them to do." Yeovil: Collis, Skiverton (Lockwood 78), Miles (Poole 63), Way, Terry (Rose 63), Johnson, Gall (Davies 63), Jevons (Harrold 78), Amankwaah, Sodje, Bastianini (Oliver 78). Subs: Weale, Lindegaard, Reed, Guyett, Alvares. Saints: Niemi, Delap, Lundekvam (Surman 40), Hajto, Kenton, Higginbotham, Prutton (Mezague 75), Wise (Folly 45), Oakley (Dyer 75), Jones (Walcott 45), Pahars (Ormerod 33). Subs: Critchell. Booked: Prutton.

Referee: Ian Williamson. Attendance: 5,761