Saints fans sat and watched today and thought that the team might just hold on to 8th place, however then came a late late winner at St James Park.

Saints are really chasing 8th place this season and it looked like they might get a boost in their hopes as Newcastle looked to be held 0-0 by Crystal Palace up in the North East, but just when it looked like Saints would head into next weeks showdown with the Toon at least a point ahead without taking into account the visit to White Hart Lane a 93rd minute winner leapfrogged the Geordies over us, of course a win or even a draw would put us ahead again, but Newcastle will still have a game in hand, this was a good chance for us to see that advantage eroded.

Below us Hull beating West Brom mean they are 12 points behind us, they still have a mountain to climb to catch us and another win for us would probably make it too much of a job.

The three clubs behind us are all in action to come, West Ham are about to take on Manchester United and depending o how you look at things just about any result could see a silver lining for us, A West Ham win would mean that if we beat Spurs we could be level on points, but it could also mean that if we lost to Spurs the Hammers tails will be up to try and catch us, but they would still be a long way behind so a WEst am win is really what we want.

Aston Villa and Stoke City are the two best placed clubs to try and catch us, they meet tomorrow at Villa Park, a win for either will keep that winning side in the chase behind us but will effectively make it very tough for the loser to catch us, a draw would be the best result, that aligned with a win for us at Tottenham would virtually guarantee us a top ten spot.

We are heading into a crucial week of the season, our nest two games will give a big pointer as to whether the final games are about chasing down the team s above us or about making sure we dont allow the chasing pack to cause us any trouble.

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