Saints final position in the Premier League will rely heavily on what they do in the next two games.
This weekend was a good one for Saints both from the point of view of the teams behind them and those in front, looking over our shoulder, defeats for West Ham, Hull & Swansea, means that it could be a big ask for them to catch us and although Stoke & Villa creeped up a little, with every game that goes by the gap becomes harder for them to make up, Stoke are 11 points behind and for them to catch us would need a big swing in their results and ours, this means we are perhaps one win away from being sure of a top ten finish, although I do think we are virtually there on that one, we shouldnt underestimate Villa though, if they in their game in hand they will only be 8 points behind and we have to travel to Villa Park yet.
Looking ahead we leapfrogged Newcastle and with Manchester United losing we are now within 3 points of them, it will still be a tough ask but to b in with a shot of finishing above them at this stage of the season is truly a sign of how good a season we have had as well as a warning of how far we actually are off being able to compete with the big clubs for a Champions League place, for them this season is an absolute disaster yet they are still ahead.
So our next two fixtures are vitally important if we harbour hopes of not only staying ahead of Newcastle but of even overtaking United, the trip to Spurs next Sunday is one we need to get something from, one thing we do need to do is start to beat the teams above us, the fact that in the top 12 clubs in the Premier League we have only beaten one in sixteen attempts is a source of worry, if we are to finish the season on a high then we need to address this, winning at Spurs would be a great start.
Then its perhaps the most important home game of the season, the visit of Newcastle, truth is the Geordies are our biggest rivals this season, it is them we are vying with for 8th position and this has to be our first focus for the rest of the season, concentrate on keeping ahead of Alan Pardew's side and then we might just get higher, this should really be a game where we have a full house behind us and we have to win, if we do we will have dealt them a big blow with only six games remaining.
But remember, those last six games are tough, Man City away and Everton & Man Utd at home are never easy and we have to look at our record aganst the top six and that is why im still cautious about where we might finish, add a trip to Aston Villa in the last six mix as well and if we look at our form for the season it doesnt bode well for predicting the scores.
So we have to end this jinx the top dozen sides have on us and then we have to finish strongly, it was at that stage last year we started to falter not winning any of our last six, if we repeat that this time out then we will be open for a fast improving Aston Villa to overhaul us in the final weeks of the season, get a minimum of four points from the next two games and we will take a big step to go into the final run in full of confidence