Saints approach the half way mark of the season and a run of difficult games where the need to get a win or two on the board fast.

At the start of December I predicted that this would be the month that would defin our season, with four of its games out of the way the results so far havent been great and if we lose against Spurs then we find ourselves faced with three difficult fixtures ahead, two away and looking over our shoulders.

There are those that will point towards the teams we have played and state that it was to be expected etc, yes that could be true, but when we were slaughtering a few teams from the bottom half, the same people werent advising caution then, but were certain that a top six finish would be inevitable.

So Spurs arrrive at St Mary's for their first league game since sacking their manager, Saints fans should take note AVB was dismissed despite his team being higher in the Premier League than Saints, one game away from a League Cup semi final and through in the Europa League, to put it in perspective if Spurs win at St Mary's they will be only 3 points off those Champions League places, this is how tough it is at the top.

For Saints though it has to be a game at a time at the moment, its important that we beat Spurs and start to push ourselves back up the league, our current form is not good, over the last six games we stand 14th on goal difference, only four teams have a worse points per game ratio than us going into this game, put bluntly .83 per game is relegation form.

But a longer term view is not much better, go back two months and 9 games and we only have 10 points, that is a worrying statistic, 9 games is over a quarter of the season, its a record that needs to be improved on and what better way to start than Spurs.

The draw at Newcastle was good, but it should be remembered that it could have been better, in the first half we got our tactics completely wrong, in the second we got them right but we cant keep doing that if we are to stay in the top ten much longer.

Mauricio Pochettino needs to put out a side from the very beginning is able to compete and wont find itself playing catch up due to individual error as it has done on too many occasions in the last month or so, at Newcastle Pochettino once again tried to play the Osvaldo/Lambert combination, it hasnt worked so far, especially away from home and today he needs to make a difficult decision and play only one of them, this is a toughie, on one hand Osvaldo was not good at Newcastle, but on the other he was excellent against Man City, the manager has to decide whether he puts the poor display against the Geordies down to his own tactical blunder, or whether he keeps faith with Osvaldo, whichever man he goes for will be a positive move, after all both can play a bit, but he has to stop trying to keep both happy.

His other key decision has to be at the back, Fonte has been on the bench in recent weeks and most assumed that he has been carrying a knock, but conversely he was fit enough to face Man City but didnt get the nod against Newcastle, nor did he come off the bench against the Toon, if Fonte carrying that knock or is there a problem between him and the manager, today we will perhaps find out, certainly Fonte with two weeks rest should be fit today to play.

Apart from that the team pretty much picks itself, I would hope that Chambers continues at right back even if Clyne is fit, the youngster has excelled and deserves to keep his place, personally I think his performances have been better than Clynes in the games before he was injured and competition breeds success, I think we have had too much of the reverse in recent weeks, a lack of competition and the same dozen players being used to distraction has not only bred complacency but has also seen a modicum of burn out and injury problems.

ironic that we meet Spurs, AVB has had this season monitored at every move by the press, a month or so ago his position seemed rock solid and then suddenly he is sacked despite his team still being in the mix for Champions League places etc.

On the other hand Mauricio Pochettino has been allowed to get on with things without much scrutiny, his stock is high and he is now getting the plaudits and rightly so, but ironically those plaudits are for what was happening two months ago, not what has happened in the last 8 weeks, where his record has been no better than most in the division.

With a year in charge looming its time for him to show why we had to sack Nigel Adkins, and that means winning a few games and making sure that we are back to casting glances to the top six of the league rather than looking nervously over our shoulder.

Arguably this is the easiest game of the next four coming up, now is the time to get back to winning ways.

Photo: Action Images

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