The Saints Academy insist it is more important than ever to invest in youth.

Saints U18s host Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the FAYouth Cup at St Mary's tonight, with academy manager Matt Crocker and coach Dave Hockaday keen to ensure more players follow the likes of Andrew Surman and Nathan Dyer into the first team.

Dyer, who is out of contract at the end of this season and could then walk away for nothing, might well be sold during next month's transfer window.

And Surman is another of Saints' most saleable assets.

If Dyer or Surman were to leave, they would follow fellow academy products Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Martin Cranie and Dexter Blackstock out of the exit door if new investment is not forthcoming.

And with Sisu Capital expected to complete a takeover of Coventry, and not Saints, in the next 24 hours, Crocker and Hockaday know they have a vital role.

Crocker said: "Championship clubs are being raped and pillaged but all we can do is continue to try to produce players.

"It's more important than ever that the club continues to invest in the academy year in, year out."

Hockaday agrees.

He said: "Academies get a lot of bad press, they're an easy target, but they're the way forward and the lifeblood of the vast majority of clubs.

"We haven't got a lot of money at the football club so we have to work extremely hard to get players in, off the conveyor belt and into the first team."

Full story: see today's Daily Echo.