Southampton go into a crucial week of the season on the back of a run of good form, by 5pm next Saturday we could be on the cusp of something big, or merely fighting for a top 10 place.
Saints face West Ham United in the FA Cup on Wednesday night and then follow that up on Saturday by travelling to Aston Villa who sit 5 points & 3 places behind us in the Premier League.
First up though is the FA Cup and a win against the Hammers would put us into the quarter finals, the East London side have been having a great season, but they have struggled of late and ahead of their fixture today at home to Wolves, have won just once in the last 5 Premier League games.
In between they played Kidderminster Harriers in the 4th round of the FA , they won 2-1 after extra time, but they needed a last minute equaliser in normal time to stop them going out of the competition and also a last minute winner in extra time.
Saints will also go into the game with two extra days rest than the Hammers, who also have a game against Sevilla in the Europa League a week after their trip to St Mary's.
That means that starting today they have 4 big games in 11 days, the question is where they prioritise the FA Cup, will they be more concerned about their chances in the Premier League or for that matter in Europe.
Saints will have the confidence that having played them twice in the League and taken 4 points we can beat them again.
Whatever the result on Wednesday we still have the League to occupy us as we chase a top 9 finish and perhaps hope for a little higher.
Aston Villa's win at Brighton has brought them within 5 points and they will be looking for a win that will re ignite their chances of a top 10 finish, this is not quite the project that Danny Ings had in mind when he jumped ship back in August, but it is all they have now.
Ings of course missed the game at St Mary's earlier in the season through injury, so assuming that he plays some part in the game at Villa Park this will be the first time he has faced the Saints supporters since his defection.
Personally I'm not worried about it, the past is in the past, he could have been a club legend, he preferred not to be, all I care about is that we go to Villa and win, something we managed at home with an early Adam Armstrong goal giving us all three points.
So a big week for us, by the end of it we could be in the FA Cup quarter finals & on the heels of 8th place, or we could be looking over our shoulders at the 4 clubs behind us and rueing a missed opportunity for a stab at FA Cup glory