George Burley faces a selection dilemma ahead of tomorrow night's Carling Cup tie against Yeovil.

An early season injury crisis means the Saints boss can only be sure of having 18 fit players for the first round tie at St Mary's - but he is desperate to protect his stars ahead of their important Championship clash with Preston on Saturday.

It is going to require a fine balancing act for Burley, who has Djamel Belmadi (calf), Bartosz Bialkowski (knee), Mario Licka (foot), Claus Lundekvam (ankle), Darren Powell (knee), David Prutton (knee) and Michael Svensson (knee) all missing.

Burley said: "Preston is a big game for us. There are players pushing for games but we're already stretched to the maximum."

For full story see today's Daily Echo.