As our preview of this evenings programme in the Championship stated, Saints could have dropped down to 4th, but all the results went for them and they remain top.

It was a worrying night at the top of the Championship, with 10 minutes to go Brighton sat in top spot leading 1-0 before collapsing to an 80th minute palace equaliser and then two last minute goals to make it only 1 point from their two home games.

Derby also harboured hopes of top and who would have bet against it playing Barnsley at home, but the Yorkshire side took the lead and eventually held out for a 1-1 draw to see derby level with Saints on 19 but having played a game more.

Perhaps the biggest threat to Saints though, not just on the night but for the season is West Ham, after scraping a 1-0 win against Peterborough their second home fixture of the week saw them against one of the worst defences in Ipswich, the TractorBoys did Saints a favour though not only shutting out the Hammers, but nicking a last minute winner to leave them still two points behind us albeit with a game more played.

So Saints remain at the top, the job now though is to capitalise on another bad day for top six teams, a win at Cardiff would set us up nicely for the visit of Watford.

Spare a thought for Pompey though, looking for a second home win that would push them to the fringes of the play off spots they were once again all square as the game went into injury time with Peterborough, then as on Saturday up popped Huselkepp deep into injury time as he did against Blackpool, sadly he was at the wrong end of the field to the despair of most of the 12,120 rattling around in a virtually half empty Fratton Park. they certainly wont be relishing a tough trip to Elland Road on Saturday that could see them very close to the bottom 3 if they lose  

Photo: Action Images

BlackRod added 00:52 - Sep 28 My heart bleeds for Pompey. This just goes to show how far off the mark the previous article '31 days of destiny' was. We'd all love it if the team never made mistakes and we had guaranteed promotion by Christmas. The fact is that we will make mistakes - but so will everyone else. Even if we lose to Cardiff the worst case scenario is that we will be second and still well poised for the hard slog to the end of the season. COYR.

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simmo400 added 06:27 - Sep 28 Nick must be upset we didnt drop down to 4th. COYR
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bstokesaint added 12:57 - Sep 28 A crazy night of results in the Championship and it just goes to prove that nothing can be taken for granted, even with the other top teams at home. I still maintain that a point away tonight and 3 on Saturday would be good going and keep us at the top going into the next break. That said this is a huge opportunity to open up a gap. A chance perhaps we never took last season every time Brighton slipped up. Does this current team have more of a ruthless streak..?

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