By the time next weeks round of Premier League fixtures are completed with Aston Villa V Man City on Monday night Saints will have a clearer view of their position.

Saturday's results in the main went Saints way, Wigan's win at Reading might well have been better for us if it had been a draw, but defeats for Reading, Villa, QPR and Sunderland kept them firmly in the relegation race.

But we did see the bottom three get a point closer with Wigan leapfrogging Reading and Villa and we should be careful not to get to carried away with the recent hype, as it stands we are still only three points above the drop zone before our game against Newcastle United.

The trip to St James Park is a key game, a draw wont do much for either side, but a win for either will propel them to a six point lead over the third from bottom club and the psychlogical 30 point mark will have been attained.

But for both the Toon and ourselves its not just about this weekend its about the next one as well, of course it could be said that its about every fixture and that is factually true, chances are we could lose the next 8 games in a row but win the last three and stay up on 36 points, but the reality is that now is about the time that some clubs start to pull away from the drop zone whilst others find themselves drawn into it.

I have always said that 38 points will probably be enough to stay up, but the trick is to get that target in sight with plenty of time to go, four points from our next two games will do just that, push us over 30 points but leave us just two wins from safety and that the place we want to be, conversely fail to win in either of them and we will find ourselves drawn right back into the mire.

Beat QPR next Saturday and thats game over for them, Harry is saying otherwise but its all bravado, he know that defeat at St Mary's will leave Rangers needing 20 points from 10 games to have any chance whatsoever of staying up, put another way thats 5 wins and 5 draws and no defeats, are QPR good enough to do that,  dont think so, even winning 6, drawing 2 and losing 2 is a big ask, make no mistake QPR's day of destiny is at St Mary's.

eading seem to have got their mini revival well and truly behind them, they face a tough trip to Everton next week, the Berkshire clubs resurgence though perhaps disguised the fact that they werent actually playing that well even when picking up points, it relied on late late goals rather than stuffing teams, if the luck had not been going their way then they would be down with PR points wise.

But my worry is that Reading and QPR aside their is little to choose between any of the next five sides up, any of them including our good selves could get drawn into that relegation battle, Wigan showed by beating Reading yesterday that they are prepared to knuckle down and grind out the results, they are seasoned relegation fighters and have the confidence of knowing what they need to do and knowing they can do it.

Aston Villa are much maligned but my worry is they have the players to pull off a couple of results, they did earlier in the season and they nearly got a point at Arsenal, dont write them off yet, so that leaves three clubs left, ourselves, Newcastle and Sunderland, each of us will be looking to pull ourselves clear of the dogfight and leave the rest to scrap it out and this is why this next week is so crucial to us, lose at St James Park and we hand the Geordies a big initiative, beat them and we leave them looking over their shoulders and ourselves turning into the home straight.

Sunderland are still outsiders for the drop, however their destiny will be outlined when they face Fulham at the Stadium of Light next weekend, beat them and they themselves are on 32 points and probably only one win from the finish line, lose that one an they will be shuffling nervously.

So by next Monday night after Aston Villa have entertained Manchester City a lot of questions will have been answered, perhaps it wont yet be conclusive answers, but Saints fate is in their own hands and they can pull themselves clear of the pack and make the relegation dogfight a more exclusive club of which we are no longer a member, or we can find ourselves right down there with them.

My worry is that yes the bottom two look likely to suffer the drop, but after that there is still one place left and all of the teams who might just get dragged into that spot come the end of the season are well capable of pulling clear, thats why its so important not to give anymore silly points away through sloppy goals, that has been our undoing so far and unless we wipe that from our play we might just find that the dropped two points at Wigan might cost us countless millions come May.        

Photo: Action Images

A1079 added 16:26 - Feb 24 I have been concerned by the hype from the Man City game from our own fans. Yes we were good, but today has highlighted again how flaky we are, and we are subject to the same errors as we were under NA. One win and 9 goals conceded in 5 games has not suggested a leap forward. Yes our football can be exciting to watch and entertaining but some of that entertainment seems to come from our ability to shoot ourselves in the foot as we did today on a number of occasions, as it does from our ability to play open, slick football with some good goals. MP made some strange selection decisions today as well, something NA got criticised for quite often. QPR won't be easy. They may be doomed but if Redknapp does not win any other game you bet he will want to win this one. We have to have the right frame of mind and make sure the mistakes that have crept back in today are a blip and not a resurgence of our defensive failings that cost us so many points earlier in the season.

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