Tuesday night football at Lakeside will see South take on Pascoe Vale in the sixth round of the Australian Cup Preliminary Rounds.

South reached this stage after defeating both Eastern and Bentleigh in the earlier rounds, however the team’s recent league form suggests a win is far from certain.

This recent form includes a somewhat unlucky 2-1 loss against Oakleigh, a horrible 2-0 loss against Port Melbourne and a much needed 2-0 win against a woeful Melbourne Knights.

Against a lowly Pascoe Vale most will expect South to get the job done, however with the pressure to stay up in the league South will likely rest players from its already depleted squad.

Mikkola, Brennan, Archibald, Mells, and Marshal have all sat out of games in recent weeks and with a crunch game against Victory next week South may understandably look to rest their remaining key players from the Cup game.

Regarding Pascoe Vale, the club has fallen on hard times. Once an NPL team just minutes away from knocking out South from the finals, the club now finds itself at the bottom of VPL2, a full 31 positions below South on the pyramid.

Pascoe Vale have conceded more than 2 goals a game in the league and managed only two wins.

Their Cup run has also not been inspiring despite their qualification to this stage of the tournament.

Pascoe Vale have benefited from draws against lower tier opposition including Templestowe Wolves (State 5), Albion Rovers (State 2), and Balmoral (State 4), the last of which Pascoe Vale only managed to defeat on penalties.

To be honest, even with a second string team, South must expect a win against Pascoe Vale considering the club’s form. A loss would be embarrassing, but another injury could be worse.