Saints have three tricky games over the Christmas and New Year period, if we are to avoid relegation we need to come through them in good shape.
The win over Aston Villa bought us some relief from the relegation battle and the psychological advantage of being out of the bottom three on Christmas Day, but the run of matches during the festive period usually goes a long way to sorting out the wheat from the chafe and this year may be no different.
Saints probably have a tougher trio of games than the rest of their rivals and if they are to keep their heads above water then they need to pick up some points as they not only need to keep Aston Villa below them, but also not only make sure the bottom two don't make up ground as well as try and keep the teams above us in sight.
Those predicting doom and gloom a few weeks ago have seen three wins in the last five games have pulled us up and out of the relegation zone and we need to make sure that we are still in a healthy position come the end of New Years Day.
Last year saw us boosted with two straight wins before Xmas before losing twice and drawing at Chelsea put us back into trouble.
But after that we picked up and stormed up the table and we need to make sure we have a better platform to build on than a year ago.
I still maintain that we are a good team, we just have a poor defence and the hope is that if we can be out of the relegation zone after a very poor first half of the season, then we can surge forward if we can sign a decent central defender.
The reality is that even without a new signing we are stronger than we were a year ago, we have the same squad boosted by an in form Danny Ings, plus the addition of Moussa Djenepo and Che Adams as well as the return of Sofiane Boufal.
Of course we have problems no one is denying that, but we now seem to be acknowledging those problems exist and we are dealing with them, hopefully with success and that means we can have a good second half of the season.
But first we have to get through the next three games and none will be easy for various reasons, that being the case I would suggest that a return of three points would be if not great satisfactory, although probably a par score would be 4 points and achievable.
Ralph Hasenhuttl seems to have had to deal with issues in his squad, that can be the only conclusion for the absence of Yan Valery and Kevin Danso, but he seems to be dealing with the issues behind the scenes and they must have had a negative affect on results.
So the Xmas period will be tough and perhaps we will like last year not have a great time, but I think we are better placed than others around us to start to pull clear in the New Year, we have come through a bad period stronger than before.
The Southampton Way is often spoken about, but that is not just on the pitch it is off it as well, Saints fans in the past had a reputation for getting behind their team when the going got tough, even when there where issues in the boardroom, we supported the club as an entity and the team as it's representation.
Owners players and managers come and go, the Club and it's supporters are the constant, the modern era has changed a lot in supporting football clubs, but essentially it is still the same, get behind the team.