By the end of October Saints supporters will know just how sustainable the promotion push is.

The accusation levelled at Saints from some quarters, well all points east of Fareham to be exact, is that our position at the top of the league is false due to the quality of opponents that we have faced so far, certainly at the moment there is evidence to suggest that, most of the teams we have played have been in the bottom half orin poor form when we have met them and our two defeats have both been against teams who will challenge for promotion.

However we are about to get the chance to prove that the old adage of "you can only play what is in front of you" is correct and that we can beat the better teams in this division, as we now face a run of four games, three of which are against sides in the top six and the remaining one against Reading a team noted for their ability to steadily climb the league as the season progresses.

It is important to take at least 8 points out of these games, not only to maintain that two point ration per game, but also to put a dent in the challenge of our rivals, but it wont be easy.

First up is the trip to Derby County, traditionally a place where we have never done well and there could not be a better time to change that, ideally in this run two wins and two draws would give us our eight points, but if we could catch Derby on the hop and come away with all three points, then it would be a great confidence booster.

That game is quickly followed by the midweek visit of West Ham to St Mary's, with their big name squad the Hammers themselves will be looking to come here and win, but we have to make sure that its still fortress St Mary's and send them away packing.

Reading away looks the easiest of the fixtures, however they are a well organised side who are now starting to regroup after losing several key players in the summer and it will be no cake walk.

Finally its Middlesbrough at home, at time of writing this would be the big one, first V second, however a lot could have changed for either side in the two weeks prior to the fixture and league positions may be far different.

If Saints can come through this quartet of games not only unbeaten but with a minimum of eight points then they will have really posted their notice of intent that they are serious contenders in the promotion race.

Last season for 2/3 of it there was a feeling that we were something of flat track bullies reliant on our home form, there was some substance to that in that until March we seemed to be able to win our home games but too often drop silly points away from home, as defeats to the likes of Carlisle, Tranmere & Walsall showed, however when it counted at the end of the season we came good, we now need to do the same now, but not leave it so late, less than eight points from these games will probably see us there or thereabouts in the play off race, but as Nicola Cortese says we have to reach for the Sun and we might get the stars, what that means is that we should always strive to achieve the best we can, last season we finally got that winning mentality and continued it into this season, however I see evidence that the fans at least are losing it, after both the defeats there seemed to be an attitude amongst some that we were top of the league so why complain.

Thats not the attitude that Cortese has and im sure Nigel Adkins feels every defeat.

By the end of October we will have played 14 games, almost a third of the season will be gone, by then either the rest of the division will consider us serious contenders for automatic promotion, or they will see us as just a side that has started well but doesnt have what it takes to sustain that challenge.          

Photo: Action Images

saintBob added 12:16 - Oct 6 Reach for the stars and land on the moon.
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bstokesaint added 12:29 - Oct 6 It's an interesting theory that we're top because we've only played poor opposition. Personally I think it's nonsense. There are very stand out bad teams in this division and most teams on their day can beat any of the top teams. That said I've yet to see us play a team who I've thought were better than us, over 90 minutes. That's not me being biased because when we were previously relegated to this division we weren't good, and there were much better teams than us. We will have our off days, but on balance we should still have enough to keep our position at the top.

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latviandream added 21:22 - Oct 6 Given that these are supposed to be the harder fixtures based on the argument that we've had the easy ones so far, i think it is unreasonable to say 6 or 7 points would be a disastrous return. Yes, we need 2pts per game over the season as a whole to 'guarantee' promotion, but that will mean we should get something like averaging 2.3ppg against the bottom 6, 2.1ppg against teams 13th-18th, 1.9ppg against teams 7th-12th, and 1.65ppg against the other teams in the top 6. As long as we're still on 2 or more ppg after these fixtures (requires 6+ from the next 4) I reckon we'll still be in contention. Ideally we'd like more, but we can't expect that it's gotta be 2ppg against every group of 4 or 5 fixtures. Some will be harder, some will be easier. Lat

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bucksfizzpete added 08:40 - Oct 7 I agree it would appear we've only played 'lesser' team so far this year, but I still feel robbed at the defeats we're had this week. The Leciester game should at the very least have been a draw, the Lambert OG was a clear foul and that goal should have been disallowed. As for Cardiff, 2 goals that just should just not have happened, again a draw as minimum, that really should have been a win. Also, our wins have been impressive...4-0, 4-1,3-1.....over defeats by only 1 goal. Even the big teams, Cardiff/Leicester have struggled against us. We just need consistentcy, because when we're on fire, we're untouchable. The difference on Saturday once we scored our first goal was incredible, the team them oozed confidence which they lacked up untilt he first goal. I am supremely confident about the forthcoming goals, we're in fantastic shape.

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ericofarabia added 11:56 - Oct 9 I don't buy into the old only beaten teams in the bottom half of the table view so early into the season. One of the reasons they are where they are is that they didn't take 3 points off us FFS. If Ipswich had beaten us we'd both be on 19 points in 2nd place. OR - If Leeds had beaten us they'd be in the play offs just 2 points behind us, and have a game in hand win that and they'd be above us. OR - Brum have 2 games in hand - if they'd beaten us and won the 2 in hand they'd be above us. 3 points extra for a couple of the other clubs would have seen them in the top half. Way too early to slag off teams we have beaten as no hopers, just be happy we are where we are and hope we continue to keep the other teams at bay by taking points off them.

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