Saints recent good form has pushed them within sight of safety, but often the last mile is the hardest of all.

Saints are no longer talked of as relegation candidates, three straight wins has seen us rocket up the table and away from the drop zone, however with safety firmly in sight, pushing ourselves over that safety line might be the hardest task of all, being so near yet so far, is a mental hurdle we need to overcome and overcome quickly.

I still feel that 38 points will be the total to beat to stay up, but it could easily be a point or two above that, looking at the current table, everyone in the relegation fight bar Wigan (discounting Reading & QPR who look doomed) are averaging over a point a game, so if that trend continues safety will possibly be a fraction over 38.

This being the case we need to make sure we surge ahead from that 38 point mark as quickly as possible to dispel any linerging doubts and not give the clubs below a chance to get us within their sights, to put it simply idealy we would get three points from  Swansea & West Brom as a minimum and that would see us safe, although two points would be acceptable.

The nightmare situation is that we lose to both Swansea and West brom and are then faced with a tough trip to Spurs, lose that as well and its likely that the clubs below us will be breathing down our necks and as we know in relegation clashes from the past, its better to be chasing than trying to stay ahead, if we did suffer three straight defeats then it could become critical and the two games against strugglers Sunderland and Stoke although looking meaningless to us now could suddenly be six pointers.

Wigan's ability to fight at the end of the season shouldnt be underestimated, they might look a long way behind now, but if we lose at Swansea and they win it wont look so far then and there are several teams down at the bottom who will be looking over their shoulders.

Many will say that we are safe, but how many other clubs have said that over the years and then found out that isnt the case, two years ago Birmingham City sat on 38 points after 33 games, with the league Cup in their trophy cabinet and a Europa League campaign to look forward to everything looked rosy for the Blues especially with a five point gap between them and the bottom three, as we all know five games later and Birmingham had only gained one more point and went down, yes Wigan are seven points behind as we speak, but if they win their game in hand the gap between us and the bottom three would only be four points, one less than the Blues gap was, the message is clear, "count your chickens before the eggs are hatched at your peril"

Hopefully in a few days time this article will be redundant and Im sure that now there are many who will slag it off as being negative and tell me how we are looking for a top ten finish not near the bottom, but these were the exact thoughts of Birmingham supporters back then, they sat only two points off the top ten spot, ironically held by Villa on 40 points and fancied their chances of finishing above their local rivals to really rub it in and cap Birmingham City's best ever season, the reality as we all know now is far different, Blues werent the first club for that to happen to and they wont be the last, we have to make sure that we are not the next !

Photo: Action Images

slynch added 10:22 - Apr 18 Saints do not have the best players in the league but they are the best "team" in the league, that is what Pochettino has done. All will be swept before them so relax. If you count your chickens or don't count your chickens before they are hatched, you get the same number. Discuss.
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StEdmund added 10:52 - Apr 18 Don't panic! Having supported the Saints for over 40 years, having watched them in many relegation scraps, I would have given my eye teeth to be in the position we are currently in. We have a team playing well enough to get a few points from the remaining games. I'm just glad I'm not supporting any of the teams below, as it looks like a game of russian roulette for them, especially as they are playing each other in the run-in. Keep the faith

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Santos added 10:57 - Apr 18 I feel the next 2 games for us are the most important in that we are playing 2 teams pretty much seeing out the season a great chance to get 6 (very optimistic) or 4 (distinctly possible) points. A big effort for an away win this weekend and 3 points for West Ham and I feel we can relax, even if the maths is not a done deal will be a big ask for wigan to overhaul 10 points with 15 available.

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ExiledSupporter added 15:23 - Apr 18 I've been a Saints supporter long enough (my wife would say too long) to have developed a healthy respect for our ability to cock things up at the last moment - and often before the last moment, with passages of unmitigated foolishness and ineptitude. So I think your cautionary note is entirely sensible and justified. On the other hand I do rather feel that this is less likely to occur with this squad and head coach. Given slynch's latest input above, I know which end of the insanity/sanity spectrum has the most realistic perspective given the circumstances

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simmo400 added 15:40 - Apr 18 So if we loose all our games we may go down and if we win 2 where ok. Not rocket science is it Nick. If we dont get 5 points out the last 5 games we deserve to drop out simples. Over 38 games we wernt good enough.
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big_buddaH added 16:16 - Apr 18 While I can see the reason for your caution, or negativity, I really don't think it is necessary. Assuming QPR and Reading don't have any hope, there are 7 teams in the mix for the last spot. All these teams have 2 games against fellow relegation strugglers (Villa 3). So even accounting that the form book gets turned upside down at this time of the season, when you can't assume teams will lose to the top teams, It is hard to see all these teams overhauling us, even if we failed to get another point from now until the end of the season. Having said that, the way we have played over the last 10 games, it is hard to see us not getting another point. No time to be complacent for sure, but we are not playing with the fear of relegation candidates, and I wouldn't think we will be. I would say that should Sunderland, Wigan or Villa lose their next games, they would seriously be up against the wall.

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richardmdcooper added 17:17 - Apr 18 I appreciate the caution and don't want to say you're being negative (i accused you of that a lot last season!) but there is absolutely no way in hell we are going down or even that it will go to the last couple of games of the season..The way the team is playing, the confidence and their work ethic, I'm not at all worried and will enjoy this last set of fixtures

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tiptop added 20:56 - Apr 18 #1Not much is certain #2Nic's wobbly kneaded concern is a def possibility. ..Results go with form and in patterns Saints winning 4 or 5 on the bounce wasn't going to happen. At the same time losing 5 in a row isn't v likely. I don't think its unrealistic to be positive going into the remaining games though. Yes. We could get a bad run but if we did we would be working extra hard to win asap. Thing is we have overcome that consistently losing hurdle and now have the potential to kick on. I have seen enough to be confident and remain so!! Swansea will be a great game. What ever the result we have a right to remain positive.

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Whatsforpud added 21:29 - Apr 18 As it stands, we have the best goal difference. Obviously if we lose some of the games, this will go up, but some teams are way behind on goals. Who would have thought that after the first 7 or 8 games.
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