x

Can Southampton Get Into The Play Off Positions By Beating Charlton

Saints host Charlton Athletic on Saturday and the big question is whether this could post a big statement of intent by seeing us leap into the top six if we can beat Nathan Jones side on his return to St Mary's.

Bristol City's last minute equaliser against Wrexham on Tuesday evening die Saints a big favour, it meant that we go into this weekend's round of fixtures in the Championship within two points of Derby County in that last play off spot.

So the answer to the question posed is that yes we can go into the play off spots if we beat Charlton, but we are need results elsewhere to go for us for that to be the case.

The first of the games we need to keep our eyes on, is on Friday night when Blackburn Rovers host Preston North End, a local derby, although not THE local derby for either club, Preston look towards Blackpool for that and Blackburn hate Burnley.

But in this game, a win for Preston would end our hopes of being in the play off positions come Saturday evening before we have even kicked off, they start two points ahead of us with a goal difference of 4, exactly the same as us.

So a win for them would put them out of reach for this weekend, but a defeat or draw would mean that a win for us would see them jump over them, albeit on goal difference if they were to take a point as Ewood Park.

Next up would be Bristol City's trip to Swansea at 12.30 on Saturday, with the Robin's starting the day a point ahead of us, we need them to either lose or draw in Wales and that would keep them within catching distance.

Kicking off at the same time of us we have Wrexham two points ahead of us hosting Ipswich, Wrexham have a goal difference of 5, one better than us, so if they lose then a win for us would see us above them, but a draw for them could also see them go above them on goal difference if we win by more than 2 goals against Charlton, but on goals for if we win just a single goal.

Finally Derby travel to Watford, as they are level on points with Wrexham, essentially it is the same scenario, if they lose or draw we could go above them, but for that to happen in the event of the draw it is a tougher situation.

They start the day with a goal difference of 8, so we need to turn that round, a two goal deficit for them and a two goal difference triumph over Charlton would do the trick as we have scored one goal more than them going into the weekend, unless of course they were to lose by a stupid scoreline such as 4-2 whilst we won 2-0.

So the truth is that although it is possible that we could get the psychological boost of being in the top 6 come Saturday evening, we are relying on four results going for us, so the odds are a little against us.

But all we can do is keep winning games of football and if we do so, each time we will creep a little nearer to the goal of promotion.

In many respects it highlights just how good we are as a side that we can be so close after such a poor start to the season with the addition of the wobble in December/January.

Just an extra point or two gained in each of those bad runs would have seen us already sitting in the top 6, not conceding those last minute winners at Millwall & Oxford would have changed the perspective of this season completely we would have now been 2 points off 4th spot.

But we can't change what has already happened, we can only change what is about to and that means creating our own luck, the truth is we are a better side indeed a better squad than we were before Xmas, the return of James Bree from loan at Charlton and Sam Edozie from out in the cold has effectively given us two new players to add to Daniel Peretz & Cyle Larin.

Tonda Eckert is slowly but surely learning with each game and we are getting stronger.

What to read next:

Kick Off Time And Date Set For Saints FA Cup Trip To Fulham
Southampton fans will be glad to hear that the date has been set for the trip to Fulham in the 5th round of the FA cup, they perhaps won't be too happy to hear that there will be delays due to work on the railway.
Southampton Lining Up Move For Modern Target Man Striker In The Summer
Saints are already planning for next season, although it is not yet clear what division they will be in, they will be considering options not only in all positions, but whether it is a Premier League or Championship class player they will be going for.
Saints And Pompey Get Heavily Fined For Derby Day Handbags At Dawn
A lot of money was spent in keeping the two sets of supporters apart off the pitch when Southampton travelled to Portsmouth last month, but it didn't stop the players themselves having a bit of argy bargy on it and now both clubs have been fined.
Will Southampton Invoke Extension Option For Ross Stewart
Ross Stewart's time so far at Southampton has not been great, that is not the fault of the player himself, after joining with an injury that soon cleared up, he has suffered a series of unrelated injuries, but in recent months he has shown why the club bought him in the first place. With his contract up in the summer, will he stay or will he go !
Rangers Coach Joins As Southampton Continue Coaching Reshuffle
There was expected to be business done between St Mary's & Ibrox in January with Cameron Archer moving to the Glasgow giants. However that didn't happen but there has been movement.
Saints Travel To Fulham In The FA Cup 5th Round
Southampton fans hoped for a lower ranked club at home in the FA Cup draw and although they avoided some of the very big guns, they ended up getting a Premier League side away from home.
Southampton Look For Another Home Draw In FA Cup 5th Round
The basic rule of thumb is that in the FA Cup you want the lowest ranked club in the draw and you want them at home, however at Burnley found out on Saturday, that does not always work out for the best.
Southampton V Leicester City The FA Cup Verdict
Tonda Eckert said he would be making a few changes for this match, but it was still a shock when the starting line up was announced, that when he said a few he meant 10 ! It was a clear indication of where the managers priorities lie and for the time being at least it is promotion.
Southampton 1 - 1 Leicester City - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
Southampton Defender Set To Miss The Rest Of The Season
Saints fans might not be too disappointed to learn that Mads Roerslev is the man who is set to undergo surgery that will keep him out for several months, if only because he has barely played this season due to injury.