Saints take on Newcastle United at St Mary's this weekend for a game which is a six pointer in the race for 8th place in the Premier League.
It was a tale of injury time goals for Saints this weekend and the two crucial goals both went against us, the first up at St James Park saw Newcastle sneak a couple of extra points and then the second at White Hart Lane robbed Saints of a point, without those goals Saints would now sit 8th in the table two points ahead of the Geordies knowing that a win on Saturday would send us 5 points clear of them, even with a game in hand, that would be a big gap for Newcastle to make up.
But the goals didnt go for us at the weekend so it is Saints with the mountain to climb if they are to overhaul the Toon and come the end of the season emulate their highest ever position in the Premier League, the 8th that Gordon Strachan achieved in 2002/03 alongside an FA Cup Final appearance, unarguably our best season in the Premier League ever.
Now a Saints win against Alan Pardew's side will still only see us with a slight advantage and that could be only temporary if Newcastle win the game in hand, so this fixture on Saturday is shaping up to be the most important game of the season as we reach the business end, put bluntly and we are still in the hunt for that 8th spot although higher than that looks out of reach, lose it though and we are probably waving goodbye to 8th as Newcastle would then be 4 points clear and still with that game in hand, in fact if we lose then we could also be looking over our shoulder a little.
Of course 9th place would have been a dream for most Saints fans at the start of the season although as many had their heads turned with talk of Champions League Qualification from certain quarters, that it will seem a bit of a disapointment.
What we dont want though is the season to peter out, we want to keep the interest going to the end, from that aspect its vital we beat Newcastle and look to secure that 8th spot, in the grand scheme of things its not a big difference, but the significance could be massive, it is always good to finish a season on a high as it whets the appetite for next term.