Southampton host Stoke City at St Marys in their penultimate game of the regular Championship season.
After winning three home matches on the bounce, Southampton were given an outside chance of gatecrashing the automatic promotion places, but back-to-back defeats has condemned Russell Martin’s men to the play-offs.
A dramatic 2-1 defeat against Cardiff City followed a 5-0 humbling at the hands of Leicester City on Tuesday night as Martin was left incredibly disappointed with the result and manner of the performance.
The Saints boss must pick his players up after consecutive defeats by responding against Stoke City, a team that finds themselves in 17th position, four points above the relegation zone.
It would take a huge swing of results for the Potters to get relegated, but as they aren’t mathematically safe, it won’t be an easy ride for the South Coasters to secure victory.
As Martin’s men face up to the lottery of the playoffs, the ideal preparation for them would be to win their final two games.
David Prutton issues Southampton vs Stoke City score prediction
Only Ipswich Town (57) have scored more goals at home than Southampton (54) in the Championship this season.
The Saints boast the quality in abundance to put opponents to the sword but have often struggled to put their chances away when it matters.
When they host Stoke on Saturday, they’ll be looking to bounce back from their recent slump and kickstart some momentum ahead of the play-offs.
Ahead of the clash, Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has issued his prediction for the match and believes the South Coasters will get back to winning ways.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Championship Prediction podcast, the former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder said: “Southampton to pull their fingers out and win 2-0”.
Southampton must win to build playoff momentum
The lottery of the playoffs is so impossible to predict, but usually, the team that arrives with the most momentum have the biggest chance.
If the playoffs started tomorrow, having watched Martin’s men lose consecutive games, you wouldn’t fancy their chances of getting to the final and clinching promotion.
That is why the Saints must beat Stoke and then go away to Leeds and at least put in a better fight than they did against Leicester, otherwise, they could find it difficult to pick themselves up.
Martin will learn a lot about the mentality of his team against Stoke; he’ll discover who is ready for the challenge ahead and who is still downbeat about not finishing in the top two.
Nonetheless, it promises to be a fascinating end to this Championship campaign as the promotion, play off and relegation picture is yet to be resolved.
