THIRSTY customers in a Southampton pub donned red wigs to show their die-hard support for the Saints before Sunday's big FA cup game.

More than 400 football fans regularly cram into The Bridge Inn in Portsmouth Road, Woolston, on matchdays before making the short journey to cheer on Gordon Strachan's boys at the Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium.

They are eagerly counting down the hours until the big FA Cup Quarter-Final clash with Wolves on Sunday where they expect their red and white striped heroes to send the West Midlands side back up north with their Cup dreams in tatters.

Mandy Lewis, 36, landlady of The Bridge Inn and ardent Saints supporter, said: "We regularly get between 400 and 500 fans in here on matchdays which creates a great atmosphere.

"John, my husband, gets a lot of good-natured abuse as he's a Liverpool fan. However, he's promised to support Saints in the FA Cup. My five-year-old daughter Samantha loves Saints, especially James Beattie. I'd love to get to all the games but who would run my pub? If we get to the final I'm going to have to get someone in. I'd just have to be there."

Mandy believes the Daily Echo's red wig salute to the super Saints is a great idea and, as our picture shows, a lot of her regulars will struggle to be parted from their prized syrups.

She said: "It's a bit of fun and I'm all for that."

Daily Echo readers can get their hands on a red Saints wig when they buy a special edition of The Pink available outside the Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium before the Wolves clash.