Someone is going to cop an almighty beating from Saints - just as soon as they find their finishing touch.

That's the warning from Glenn Hoddle who believes his side are due to dish out a pasting with the amount of chances they are creating.

The Southampton boss was dismayed that they failed to cash in on a string of good opportunites in Saturday's goalless draw at Tottenham.

It was the third successive game where Saints have failed to score in open play but Hoddle insists the goals are not far away.

He said: "I honestly believe there is a hammering just around the corner for someone.

"One day, if everything clicks and all the chances go in, then we are going to beat someone by four goals.

"We are creating a lot of chances but we just need to take them. The game at Spurs was another example. We played some super stuff for 35 minutes but failed to wrap the game up.

"If we had had a real cutting edge to our game this season, we would be in the top six or seven now. That is what has been holding us back as a team and as a club.

"The chances we missed on Saturday were down to poor finishing rather than good goalkeeping. The keeper did well, but he should not have had a sniff of the ball.

"The good thing, though, is we are keeping it tight at the other end with six clean sheets in our last nine games and, crucially, it has not been at the expense of our attacking game.

"We have still been creating a lot of chances - we just need to put them away. And if they all go in at once then someone will cop it."

James Beattie is still feeling the effects of a bruising afternoon, although he remembers little about it.

He is sporting a black eye and bump on the side of his face from a clash of heads with Gary Doherty. He also took a bang on a foot, but should be okay for Saturday's AXA sponsored FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Sheffield Wednesday.

Mark Draper also expects to be fit despite needing stitches in a shin, while Hassan Kachloul missed training yesterday with a sore back.