The now-retired Southampton star who once got the better of Manchester City

Southampton has a bumper April ahead in the Championship, but Tonda Eckert's men won't be fearful of any fatigue setting in.

Instead, the promotion-chasing Saints will surely be embracing the onslaught of fixtures heading in their direction, with the South Coast side last losing in the demanding division back in the middle of January, against playoff rivals Hull City.

Since then, Eckert's machine has been chugging along smoothly, with a 5-1 demolition job of Wrexham last time out really sending out a statement to the rest of the second tier, that Southampton aren't messing about, in their bid to instantly move back into the Premier League.

There some some big fixtures ahead, which Southampton will need to win, to seal a playoff space, before they get too over confident.

Southampton's key promotion run-in

Two home games on the trot to come, give Eckert and Co a great chance to consolidate a coveted spot inside the top six.

Derby County will be their next challenge, as the Rams are still sniffing around for a promotion space. Still, confidence will be sky-high in Eckert's camp ahead of the Rams' visit, after easing past a different rival near the top of the league in Phil Parkinson's shellshocked Red Dragons.

After that, it's a banana skin contest against Blackburn Rovers, who are loitering towards the bottom of the league, while the rest of the games in the wearying Championship read as trips to Swansea City and Preston North End, and clashes on home soil against Bristol City and Ipswich Town.

Having clinched five wins in a row recently, Southampton will be full to the brim with the courage that the victories will just keep coming.

If the promotion mission continues to go swimmingly, the treat for the South Coast giants towards the end of April will be their FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester City, at Wembley.

Coincidentally, a former Southampton star has just hung up his boots, who once got the better of Pep Guardiola's men, when he was donning Saints red and white.

The now-retired Saints star who know hows to beat City

This showdown to come later in the month at Wembley will be seen as a free-hit, as Southampton will obviously be priortising a return to the Premier League.

But, getting to this stage of the competition - having beaten Arsenal in style - will mean Eckert's men won't be scared by the prospect of facing the ten-time Premier League winners, with Southampton winning at Wembley as recently as 2024, when beating Leeds United in a memorable playoff final.

Victor Wanyama, who has now called time on his varied footballing career, will hold fond memories of playing City when he was still playing on the South Coast.

Notching up 97 appearances for the Saints, in a career that also saw him line up for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, he would actually be on the winning side, when facing City, three times, during his extended stay in England.

Only one of those occasions would come when he was situated at St. Mary's, as a 2016 contest saw Southampton - managed by Ronald Koeman at the time - overcome City 4-2, in an action-packed victory.

Lining up as a holding midfielder during this goal-filled match, with the likes of ex-St Mary's royalty Sadio Mane bagging a hat-trick, the Kenyan warrior has now come out to back his ex-side to win promotion, when addressing his globetrotting career with Sky Sports.

Promotion is the main aim, but an exhilarating FA Cup semi-final win would be the cherry on the top of the cake of an unbelievable campaign, with Southampton teams of the past upsetting the odds to beat the intimidating Sky Blues.