Stats: Leicester v Southampton

Travelling to the King Power Stadium for yesterday evening’s clash against Leicester City, Southampton’s aim was to return to winning ways on the back of four straight defeats and the extremely disappointing loss to Chelsea in our last game.

Mark Hughes didn’t get exactly what he wanted from the tie as ideally we’d have closed the five-point gap to Swansea City to two. Taking a scoreless draw from the tie was a small positive though as we ended our losing streak and made the gap four points – but the Swans hold a game in hand.

Given the position we find ourselves in, despite the benefits of a point building on the Chelsea showing, we are getting cut adrift and only victories can now change our fate so the game on that score has to go down as a missed opportunity.

Speaking to the BBC in his post game interview Hughes seemed keenly aware of that point.

Having praised the defence for improvement across the 90 minutes, he knew the balance was wrong.

“We need to be on the front foot. We have to ask more questions than we did of Leicester. We need to defend properly and be a threat the other way.”

Whether the point helps or hinders us, Hughes wouldn’t be drawn as only time will tell but undoubtedly we need maximum points from each remaining game this season if we are to have a hope of remaining in the top flight.

The upcoming Swansea clash is growing in importance but we need to be in a position for it to count.