Southampton have one more Championship clash this weekend to look forward to before there is a long pause of second-tier action.
The Saints travel to Wrexham tomorrow full of confidence that they can win on their travels to Wales, with the added spice of the Red Dragons mentioning Spygate on social media making this a tasty contest to keep tabs on.
The South Coast giants haven't lost a single second-tier game yet this September, with back-to-back wins against Swansea City and Bristol City at St. Mary's seeing them smash seven goals past Wrexham's near neighbours, and Michael Skubala's stunned away team.
If Tonda Eckert and Co. had things all their own way, they would likely just want to keep the games coming so they can keep up their red-hot form, but there will be no Championship action for three weeks after this weekend's set of stacked fixtures.
The international break will be irritating for the Saints
John Mousinho, who manages Southampton's bitter South Coast rivals Portsmouth, has come out to state that he isn't a fan of this new elongated pause on matches.
Eckert won't see eye-to-eye with the Pompey boss on much, but he would likely agree with the Fratton Park tactician, as the Saints momentum that has been found in September will be abruptly cut short.
It will likely take some time for a lot of the Saints players to get back up to speed with the intensity of the Championship when the longer-than-usual break ends, with the likes of Finn Azaz and Ryan Manning playing three Nations League matches for the Republic of Ireland, alongside Daniel Peretz representing Israel.
Moreover, Cyle Larin will possibly have to sit out the South Coast Derby on the 11th of October, to the dismay of fans back at St. Mary's, as Canada's final friendly match of three lands four days before that feisty showdown.
It would be an almighty blow if either Larin or Azaz were to pick up an injury on international duty, as they're playing quickfire games relentlessly for their respective nations.
The October fixture list also looks tricky, but Eckert will be keeping his fingers crossed that his group return from the long pause of Championship matches raring to collect more wins, alongside the camp being injury-free.
Tough games to come in October
Southampton supporters will be expecting a win against Pompey, with the fiery nature of that match, at St. Mary's, working in Eckert and Co's favour, even if there is a bit of lethargy still lingering from international contests.
Past that hotly anticipated match, tough away games at Norwich City and West Ham United arrive on the calendar for October, with the Hammers sitting pretty at the top of the Championship currently, while the Canaries have some insane attacking quality in the likes of Mohamed Toure.
If they can come out the other end of the drawn-out break without injuries, and the rampant players in September aren't tired such as Azaz and Larin, there's no reason why Southampton can't pick up wins galore in October, as well.
If there is an untimely injury knock to come, however, the machine Eckert has created could start falling apart, with Norwich and West Ham potentially exploiting the frailities.
This is all hypothetical, but if Southampton could just keep powering ahead with more and more games, they likely would, as they look unstoppable right now, especially on their own turf.
It's a new situation for all the Championship teams, not just Eckert and Co, with the first load of fixtures to come in early October intriguing to keep an eye on.
The break isn't all bad news, of course, as Caspar Jander should return for the Pompey showdown, in one silver lining.
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