Saints simply have to go to Sunderland and get a result for several reasons not least to show their supporters that they are ready not only to start to rise back up the table but can be competitive at Wembley .
Claude Puel is about to enter a phase of his Saints career that will determine whether he is destined for a short stay at St Mary's or is going to go down in Saints history as a legend.
There can be no argument that he has had a lot of difficulties this season that have not been his fault, namely the Jose Fonte situation, the horrendous injury list and the failure of those in charge of transfers to replace the departed Fonte.
But he has undoubtedly made mistakes of his own not least the infamous rotation policy that has been the root cause of our lack of momentum in the past two months.
So now he goes into two crucial games with confidence low and the opposition well aware of our weak link being in the centre of defence.
So Puel has to take his side to Sunderland and prove that he is the man to lead Saints forward, he not only has to show that he knows his best side, but that he can get the best out of them.
Normally for a game like this you would have players chomping at the bit to show that they should be picked at Wembley and that a great performance at Sunderland will cement their place. But Puel's squad know that at times team selection does not bear any relation to the form of individual players but seemingly exists only in Puel's head.
That is not good Players like to know that they play well and keep their place, strikers like to know that they score goals and keep their place, after all it is what they are there for and most strikers will tell you that goal scoring form comes in bursts, one minute you havent scored for weeks and the next everything you hit is going in.
Not for Puel's strikers though, the reward for a goal is often a place on the bench the next game.
So the Sunderland game is important for Puel, win it and he gets the spectre of relegation off his back and gives him a springboard for Wembley, but not only that he has the chance to get some momentum going for the rest of the season and most importantly Wembley.
But lose it and you feel that it will be hard for him to still be in the job next season, the weight of the supporters will be on his back, the relegation zone a little too close for comfort and morale ahead of Wembley will be at an all time low.
Mistakes have been made this season, but we cannot change what has gone on only what the future holds, all football clubs suffer set backs and it is wrong that some of our supporters have turned this one into a witch hunt, like Chelsea have done over the last year, we have to learn, change and come back stronger, we have to suffer bad times to appreciate the good.
But football is a results driven game, having got Saints to a Wembley final Claude Puel should be enjoying God like status in Southampton, but at present he isn't, the next few weeks will decide his future at the club long term.