Saints can travel to Fulham with a little bit of confidence after losing only once in the last four games, compared to the home sides straight six Premier League defeats.
According to sarcastic media Saints have not a cat in hells chance of winning at Fulham, nor for that matter ever again, however the picture although bleak is not as bleak as some would have you believe.
In the last four Premier League games Saints have notched up three draws and lost only the once and in that game against Manchester City although yes we were poor, the result wasn't much worse than that achieved by other recent visitors to the Etihad stadium of late.
Of course the results have been disappointing but in the last four Premier League we do have something we can build on, the draw at Bournemouth was promising, the Cherries are going well in 6th place and with a decent home record it was never going to be easy, yet we got that draw with ease and with a little better luck and finishing it could have been a win.
The home draw against Newcastle was disappointing, however it should be noted that in the run up to that game the Toon had been threatening a revival and have since won the next two games propelling them up the League so perhaps offers us hope that we can turn the corner.
The aforementioned City game was a disappointment and a shambles, but the reality was that we still only dropped three points the same as we did last year and the sames as every other visitor to the Etihad.
The Watford game was always going to be difficult, after all they are now on exactly the same points as Bournemouth only prevented from being sixth on goal difference, it was never going to be the easy fixture that some thought it was, yet we deserved to win and were robbed of that by a poor refereeing decision.
But the reality is that one defeat in four is a base to build on, it shows that we can compete with other teams, but of course we can't seem to close out the win just yet and that is something that we need to do.
So we can go to Fulham with some sort of confidence, they are in disarray after those six straight league defeats including losses against fellow strugglers Cardiff and Huddersfield with their only win coming back on August 26th, indeed 4 of their 5 points came in the first 4 games of the season and their only other point was back on 22nd September.
So why should we fear travelling to West London on Saturday, we have the foundations to build on, they have only defeats, indeed perhaps the only glimmer of hope they have is that they have changed their manager and Claudio Ranieri will be taking his first game in charge.
But will this improve them, yes Ranieri has a track record in managing in the Premier League. his Premier League title win was breathtaking, but countering that the following season he was sacked with the club just one point above the relegation zone after 25 games.
Of course changing a manager can often give a club an initial boost, but not as often as you would think, all of the three relegated clubs had sacked their manager by the first week of January, yet it did not help their cause, likewise Mark Hughes lost his first three Premier league games in charge of Saints.
So although Fulham will hope that a change will benefit them, it is far from guaranteed, especially when the previous manager Slavisa Jankovic was clearly a popular man at Craven Cottage having built them into a side that could gain promotion to the Premier League, as much as Ranieri could motivate the squad, he could also face animosity from those close to the previous manager.
I know this story will face criticism from those who feel that the club is rotten to the core and for whom everything is a negative, but if we are to get out of trouble there has to be a positive vibe created,from a footballing perspective the team has to be supported even by those unable to back the "club" we can either drag ourselves down in negativity or try and take the positives and build on them.
Draws are not great but they are better than defeats yes we have to start winning and it would be ideal if that was on Saturday at Fulham, but there is still a long way to go this season, it might be one of struggle but we need to all kick in the right direction, ask ourselves where we want to see the club next season and how best to help the club achieve that.