Town's Jim Magilton, returning to the Town midfield, says Town have to get a "monkey" off their backs by beating his old club Southampton in Saturday's sold-out clash.

Magilton, who very much enjoyed his four-year spell at the Dell, says the 6-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool needs to be forgotten quickly: "We've got a monkey on our backs we need to get off. The monkey I'm thinking about is the last result we had in the Premiership, that shattering 6-0 home defeat by Liverpool. We have to get it off our backs on Saturday with a good result in what is a six-point relegation battle."

Magilton, whose son Adam was born during his spell with the Saints, says Saturday's match is a must-win game: "This match is a cup final for both clubs in a way. All games for both clubs are cup finals from now until the end of the season."

Magilton left the Saints for Sheffield Wednesday in 1997, a move that never really worked out. Magilton now says had Southampton gone the extra yard he would have stayed on the south coast.

Then manager David Pleat was the man who brought in Magilton however, he left only a few months later. New man Ron Atkinson was not so keen on the Nothern Irishman and a year later he was on his way to Town, first on loan and then permanently for £682,500.

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