Southampton missed their chance to climb above Leeds United last night after a 2-1 defeat to Hull City.
The Saints had started the night two points behind Leeds with a game in hand but were unable to use that to their advantage as they fell to their first home defeat since September.
In fact, Southampton now sit in fourth place after Ipswich Town’s dramatic 4-3 win over bottom-of-the-table Rotherham United, where they were pegged back in stoppage time, before going onto score another late winner.
After a 22-match unbeaten run, Southampton have now lost two of their last three matches, but even after this latest defeat, it still remains extremely tight in the race for second.
Speaking to BBC after last night’s game, Russell Martin still believes it will go down to the wire and Southampton have nothing to panic about.
Martin says race to go down to wire
He said: “I have got no doubt we will bounce back because the quality of people in the dressing room, and quality of player. It is going to be tight until the very, very end so I can be really calm about it.”
Though Ipswich’s late winner was a slight kick in the teeth, Southampton’s loss will come as a small bonus to Leeds as it means they now sit second having played level games, for the first time this season.
But Leeds could not have asked for a tougher game to follow this weekend, as they host table-topping Leicester City at Elland Road, in what is set to be a superb encounter.
That said, regardless of the results this weekend there is still a long time to go in the season, which is why Saints boss Martin is not panicking despite a frustrating defeat.
The match between Leeds and Southampton on the final day of the season continues to look bigger and bigger by the week.
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