Southampton looked extremely tired on their Championship travels to West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night, as the unforgiving fixture list has finally caught up with them.
In the end, a 1-1 draw would be lapped up, as the impassioned hosts largely outmuscled the Saints all match long, in a big game towards the foot of the division for the Baggies.
This just felt like one game too many for Tonda Eckert's men, who have another two clashes coming in the space of eight days now against Coventry City and Norwich City to see out a whirlwind March.
Leo Scienza, coming off with a visible injury knock at the Hawthorns, will be troubling those at the Saints deeply, as Eckert and Co. are now made to wait to see what the full extent of the damage is, regarding their star-man down the flanks.
The skilful Brazilian has amassed a standout six goals and eight assists in the Championship this season, so losing a player of his dynamic brilliance for the foreseeable would be a gutting knock.
His eight assists makes him the most impactful creative force in the entire Southampton camp, with fellow first team regular Finn Azaz lagging behind on six.
Yet, it would also offer up an ideal opportunity for Tom Fellows to finally come into his own donning Southampton red and white, considering the 22-year-old has been here before in a promotion race, coincidentally with the Saints' Tuesday night opponents.
Why Southampton getting more out of Fellows could be key
When Fellows entered the building in the summer for a wild £10m, the billing of his signing would have been that he was a statement acquisition.
After all, during his very best days at the Hawthorns, he was being tipped to move to the Premier League with the likes of Everton, yet Southampton managed to win his services, instead.
The Toffees might be glad now that they didn't gamble with too much of their cash by taking a punt on the Englishman, as he has struggled to whir into motion at St. Mary's.
He is still yet to get off the mark with a goal, under either Wil Still or Tonda Eckert, with his four assists collected from 33 Championship clashes also reading as an underwhelming statistic.
It has been a notable fall from grace from his peak at the Baggies, considering he amassed a spectacular 14 assists last season, as West Brom had to make do with an unmemorable mid-table finish.
The campaign before, too, he would create eight big chances from miminal appearances, as he regularly slotted into Carlos Corberan's playoff-chasing starting XI.
With the void of Scienza potentially needing to be filled, this is where the £10m winger could finally spark into life, as he thrived under the pressures of a playoff race that season, under the Spaniard.
Eckert further has Samuel Edozie he can fall back on, considering he did assist Larin's late leveller mid-week, as the options are very much there for the German, if Scienza is sidelined through a terribly-timed layoff.
But the redemption story of Fellows is a far more romantic tale to latch onto, as the England U21 international finally arrives at St. Mary's at the best possible time, to guide Eckert and Co. to something he never achieved at the Baggies, which is a glorious promotion to the top-flight.