Southampton may not have previously played at Hartlepool, but goalkeeper Kelvin Davis is no stranger to Victoria Park.

The 33 year-old shot stopper enjoyed a brief spell between the posts at the North East outfit albeit sometime ago, when he was still making his way into the professional game.

"I went there on loan when I was 21 I think and had a good time, I played about three games," he revealed.

"I only played one home game and I remember meeting the lads halfway down on the coach to Exeter, they'd been up since six in the morning so it was interesting for me and a good learning experience, we drew a couple of games and lost in the cup.

"For me at the time it was an opportunity to get some league experience. I'd been to Torquay before that at a time when I wasn't playing any games at Luton and Lennie Lawrence got me a loan spell at Hartlepool which I was delighted with to get the opportunity to go out and play some league games.

"David Pleat would always say that you weren't a professional until you'd played 100 games so I was keen to get on the ladder and play as many games as I could."

Some twelve years on and over 350 league appearances later, Davis returns to his former club to try and help Alan Pardew's side back to winning ways in a match that won't have registered on many supporters' minds before.

"It's just a football match against Hartlepool who are in the same league and they'll be looking to beat us as much as we'll be looking to beat them," he said.

"In this league every game is a tough one and we are team that is trying to get back on a winning run, and Hartlepool is a tough place to go to try and start that.

"If we go there and get three points then I think that will give us even more confidence than going to a so called bigger club and getting a win there."

The squad go into Tuesday evening's game on the back of an energetic performance against high flying Norwich City at the weekend, and Davis is keen for Saints to take as much as they can from the match to get a result for the travelling support.

"We came off the pitch on Saturday feeling disappointed having been in a winning position and not going on to win the game, it felt like a defeat so we're looking to pick ourselves up again and what a great test it is for any professional to go to Hartlepool and get a win.

"It's fantastic to go out and perform under circumstances where it's not going to all go our way, it can certainly make you a better player in the long run. If you can blank all of that out whatever the conditions or the situation and still play your own game then I think that's a great experience and a great learning curve.

"It's fantastic to see the fans up there too because they'll get a special clap from the lads as we really do appreciate it when we see our own fans at far and away places."