Will Still fancies Southampton holding the third Championship spot by now, with some luck by their side. An expected points tally also judges Still right.
It needed ten matchdays, but a lacklustre Sheffield United has eventually caught up with Southampton in terms of league wins. In September, Saints fans had begun winding up any expected Championship comparisons with Sheffield from their minds, but look where the story is heading.
At this pace, the Saints can exchange seats with the Blades this year itself. After all, being generous to opponents aptly means living under the shadows of rivals.
Plus, what a way to make an embarrassing day even terrible by peeping at Portsmouth. The evening when the St. Mary's faithful wept over a lost draw, the subsequent night the Pompeys reaped comeback points on their court.
Desperate, well, this word isn't enough for Southampton. Neither they are upping gears from playing stalemates nor the teams sitting at an arm's length from the Saints falling behind.
Will Still rightfully fancies a potential top 3 spot for Southampton
Will Still also seems drained from this sluggish theme and Daily Echo quoted his wishful take: "If I had the magic wand and the answer, of the six draws that we've had, we'd probably have won four of them and we'd be way up the league."
Doing the maths, upgrading four draws to four victories will add an extra eight points to Southampton, and thus, propel a third place arrival. Talking about how much fluff and talk that was, an Opta report accurately backs Still's claim.
While crafting an ideal Championship table based on expected matchday outcomes, the new ranking awarded a third spot to Southampton - exactly the same as what Still believes.
If only that tally sounded promotion verdicts, it would be no rain and all sunshine for the Saints. Sadly, it doesn't and only the actual one counts.