After winning at St Mary's it went well for Saints elsewhere.

Firstly Saints have to do their bit and against Crystal Palace they scored an emphatic victory before casting their eyes at the other games in the Championship, I have always said that its a three step programme for winning promotion, first step is to cement a play off spot, second to secure second place and then lastly we  can think about winning the division, in recent weeks the gap between Saints and seventh is becoming more pronounced and could well gat bigger if we keep winning, from this respect some would say that the battle for the play offs is not concerning us, but until that mathematically nailed on we have to keep looking at those teams, especially since any one of them could put together a run, however i will say that for Reading in sixth and 12 points behind us, that is a big ask.

The first game we looked for after the final whistle was Middlesbrough V Hull, a draw here would have been preferable, even a Hull victory, however sadly Boro scored a goal with 3 mins left to win the game and all three points, to keep them only 3 points behind us, but we should remember that although its important for other clubs to drop points, we need to do this ourselves and keep it in our own hands. In the case of Hull they were casting eyes at an automatic promtion spot, victoory at Boro would have put them in third, but this defeat leaves then five points off second place.

Leeds losing at Derby was another good result, The Rams have dropped out of the promotion frame in recent weeks, but Leeds remained a threat, but this loss leaves them a dozen points off of us and that is a big gape to make up.

Likewise Blackpool who leapfrogged Leeds on goal difference, they could be a force in the play offs but shouldnt trouble the top two, another coming off the rails is Reading, they destroyed former promotion hopefuls Brighton 3-0 at the Madjeski to push themselves in the top six.

Leicester I have often mentioned and i still feel they will spend in January and push into the play offs and be the team to beat in May, however another draw, this time to lowly Ipswich is virtually ending any hopes they had of a late run to automatic promotion, but they still hover only five points of a play off spot.

Cardiff travelled to Watford, this is the type of road trip you have to win if you are looking for a top two spot and god knows we have blown a few of these ourselves this season, again a Watford win would have been nice and they came close to achieving it, however another two dropped points for the Welsh team is not to be sniffed at. this leaves them floundering eight points behind us as they watch Boro take the chance to surge ahead of them.  

Game of the day in the Championship was saved to last, Birmingham are stuck in mid table, but they have two games in hand, win those and they are in play off contention, anything less and its mid table obscurity at present, West Ham of course were looking for Saints to slip up at lunchtime and thus leaving them the opportunity to gain the top spot, Saints did what they have to do and thats keep in front of West Ham, the longer they cant catch us, the more frustrating it will be for them, plus it means that we will hopefully keep distance between us and third, a Brum win would have been nice, however a draw was almost as good as it meant that West Ham dropped two vital points and this means that barring a total disaster this weekend we should go into 2012 still leading the table.

The two points per game ratio for Saints to finish in the top two is  still in place, to do that we need to win 12 of our last 23 games, if we do that after we have added a few draws I feel that will see us across the finishing line 

Photo: Action Images via Reuters