IT'S hardly the type of name which strikes fear into the hearts of opponents.

But a 5ft 8in striker who's known as 'Marian' to his friends could well pose the biggest threat to Rovers' hopes of a first away win of the season on the south coast tomorrow.

That's the view of Rovers frontman Egil Ostenstad, who knows more than most about the dangers Southampton pose following three seasons as a Saint during the 1990s.

Affectionately nicknamed 'the Latvian Michael Owen', Marian Pahars is second only to Matt Le Tissier in the hearts of all Saints fans.

And just what would new boss Gordon Strachan give for a goal from his pocket genius right now as the Saints belatedly attempt to christen their plush new St Mary's home with its first ever Premiership win?

"The best player at Southampton is Marian Pahars without a doubt," warned Ostenstad.

"From what I understand he can be very up and down.

"But when he's good, he can be very good and I can see why people call him the Latvian Michael Owen.

"Not only is he small like Owen but he's also similar in terms of being very quick and sharp in the box.

"And, despite his size, he's actually quite good in the air as well.

"So he's a good player when he's on song and one we'll have to keep a close eye on tomorrow."

Much has changed with the Saints since Ostenstad left for Rovers in a swap deal involving Kevin Davies two years ago.

Three managers -- Dave Jones, Glenn Hoddle and Stuart Gray -- have all come and gone.

Crowd favourites like Dean Richards and Hassan Kachloul have somewhat inevitably departed.

But, perhaps most important of all, the club have also upped sticks and moved home.

Few opposition managers or players enjoyed a trip to the Dell with its cramped facilities and unique atmosphere.

The Saints, however, used to use that to their advantage and now they are finding home wins a lot harder to come by since they took the decision to relocate.

"I think leaving the Dell has been a big factor," said Ostenstad.

"When I was there we always seemed to end up in situations where we had to win practically every game towards the end of the season to stay up.

"And playing at the Dell helped us a lot because by then we'd stopped trying to play football and everything became a scrap instead.

"It was the perfect pitch to play on because it was tight, the ground only held 16,000 and they all felt like they were sat on your shoulders.

"So, although it was small, it still felt like playing at any big stadium -- just there were only half the people there.

"It was a difficult place to play at and even we found that at times.

"But it suited us in those situations because we'd just go out there, work hard and then wait to see what happened."

Now new boss Strachan is the man charged with recreating that siege mentality at the Saints new premises.

A veteran of relegation battles in the past, the former Coventry chief knows he must improve on a wretched home record which has yielded just one point from four games so far.

For that to happen, though, the likes of Pahars and former Rovers strikers Kevin Davies and James Beattie need to start finding the net on a more consistent basis -- a challenge Ostenstad believes is well within Beattie's compass.

"He's scored quite a few goals recently and I'm sure he'll be keen to score against us tomorrow," said the Norwegian.

"Obviously, he's strong and he's good in the air and his enthusiasm for the game is one of his main weapons.

"And I think he's a far better player now than when I left there.

"He's young and he still has a lot to learn but he seems to be improving all the time."