Southampton go into a crucial week of the season on the back of a run of good form, by 5pm next Saturday we could be on the cusp of something big, or merely fighting for a top 10 place.

Saints face West Ham United in the FA Cup on Wednesday night and then follow that up on Saturday by travelling to Aston Villa who sit 5 points & 3 places behind us in the Premier League.

First up though is the FA Cup and a win against the Hammers would put us into the quarter finals, the East London side have been having a great season, but they have struggled of late and ahead of their fixture today at home to Wolves, have won just once in the last 5 Premier League games.

In between they played Kidderminster Harriers in the 4th round of the FA , they won 2-1 after extra time, but they needed a last minute equaliser in normal time to stop them going out of the competition and also a last minute winner in extra time.

Saints will also go into the game with two extra days rest than the Hammers, who also have a game against Sevilla in the Europa League a week after their trip to St Mary's.

That means that starting today they have 4 big games in 11 days, the question is where they prioritise the FA Cup, will they be more concerned about their chances in the Premier League or for that matter in Europe.

Saints will have the confidence that having played them twice in the League and taken 4 points we can beat them again.

Whatever the result on Wednesday we still have the League to occupy us as we chase a top 9 finish and perhaps hope for a little higher.

Aston Villa's win at Brighton has brought them within 5 points and they will be looking for a win that will re ignite their chances of a top 10 finish, this is not quite the project that Danny Ings had in mind when he jumped ship back in August, but it is all they have now.

Ings of course missed the game at St Mary's earlier in the season through injury, so assuming that he plays some part in the game at Villa Park this will be the first time he has faced the Saints supporters since his defection.

Personally I'm not worried about it, the past is in the past, he could have been a club legend, he preferred not to be, all I care about is that we go to Villa and win, something we managed at home with an early Adam Armstrong goal giving us all three points.

So a big week for us, by the end of it we could be in the FA Cup quarter finals & on the heels of 8th place, or we could be looking over our shoulders at the 4 clubs behind us and rueing a missed opportunity for a stab at FA Cup glory

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 11:13 - Feb 27 Agreed playing 4 games in 11 days is a real challenge, but the question of "prioritising" games shouldn't an issue, as in every after-match interview from manager / players comes the recurring phrase - " we need to concentrate on the next game ". (Personally I'll be interested to see how we perform in our forthcoming home games v. Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal but there is a long time before they will all be played). Despite our outstanding displays in the last month, one major flaw remains in those performances, and that is scoring (multiple) goals. We have managed just 8 goals (including Spurs game), and only securing wins in two of the last four matches with decisive goals in the last 10 minutes despite having over 80 shots in those same matches. It would be more convincing to see a few more goals going in earlier in games and I do not seek to criticise any player from those excellent games, but in the end it's goals that count - regardless of how well we play in the 90 mins. Looking at the table the chance of finishing in Top 6 is a VERY big ask, whereas winning 3 crucial FA Cup matches would get us to the Final and a possible "passport" to Europe. We know the team is committed to giving everything in every game, but it may need very some good tactics and 110% effort to get us to Wembley this time around.

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dellboysaint added 11:19 - Feb 27 Two clean sheets….Fraser Forster continues to give the side confidence and the defence has benefitted. Well done, Fraser, and goodbye McCarthy!
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PaleRider added 04:33 - Feb 28 Best possible team for West Ham!
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SanMarco added 22:30 - Feb 28 Definitely Pale Rider. If we play the 'which one would we rather win' game then I choose Wet Spam and a quarter-final over a league win that still leaves us with little chance of any higher than 8th.
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