SaintBobby

Reading are on a bewilderingly brilliant run. All credit to them. I have every faith we will end up above Wigan, Villa and QPR though. And indeed end up much higher than 17th.

I'd be delighted with a point. Could be a goalfest though, if they are down to the bones at the back and have Tevez/Aguero/Dzeko against our current centre backs.

Shove your money down. The bookies say we're 65% likely to stay up. If I thought something was "virtually certain" and the odds were 2/1 against, I'd put a fortune on it. http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/premier-league/relegation

Interesting - although a bit sad - to see Plymouth, who beat us 1-0 at St Mary's in August 2010, are now flirting with relegation out of the league. If they haven't been able to bounce back why should the skates?

Why do people always focus on the negatives. Yes, we have let some leads slip. But also, we beat Villa away thanks to a very dodgy penalty (and them having many more chances than we did to score) We snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat at home to Fulham We came back from 2-0 down to get a point at Chelsea Obviously, if you look at all the points we could have won if absolutely everything had broken our way in every game, we'd be in the top 4 or something mental. I'm an optimist. Not only are we presently 3 points clear of the drop, but we are playing well.

Villa seem even worse at letting leads slip then we are. Dropped two points at Swansea in injury time, were 2-0 up and cruising v WBA and drew, were 3-1 up Everton with 2 minutes to go. I don't think it will be as few as 29 points to stay up, but it's not likely to be as many as 38. Here's why: Wigan - currently averaging 0.84 points per game - will end up on 32 points if this continues. Would need to average 1.31 points over their last 13 games to get to 38. Villa - same as Wigan QPR - currently averaging 0.68 per game - will end up on 26 points if this continues. Would need to average 1.61 points from hereon to get to 38. Additionally, Reading are - over the season - on target for 35 points on their overall points per game performance. An extra slight bonus is that we seem near certain to be ahead of Villa on goal difference (currently 15 ahead), and very probably also ahead of Wigan (currently 7 ahead), which is basically worth another half point to Saints. My conclusion is that we'd be very unlucky to be relegated with 33 or 34 points. 35 or 36 will almost certainly do it. 40 points and we'll be clear by a tidy mile. W 3 D 3 L 7 should be enough. W 4 D 2 L 7 will surely be enough

On the upside, we're in a much better position now than you were anticipating before the game. Clearly a 2-2 against relegation rivals is an awful lot better than a 3-0 defeat. So, whatever the % chance you thought that we'd be relegated pre-kick off, it's obviously a measurably lower % now. You must be punching the air - getting a 2-2 in a game you expect to lose 3-0 is just fantastic.

Unlucky to only get a point. We'll be fine. Just fine.

Arse

Get the f**k in

We can't score. Not if we play for 5 hours. Oh.

Starting to sound just a tiny bit better...

Dave M: "What we mustn't do....." (you know the rest)

From the Solent and Radio 5 analysis, we've been average. Not terrible.

We are losing a "must win" game, so are certain to be relegated.

BBC have us at 5 shots, 1 on target...which wld be the ricochet

Lallana for Puncheon at half time?

According to the BBC website, Wigan have had 60% possession.

Unless we come back and win, yes. This is...it was agreed...a "must win" game.

You can get 8.6/1 on that on betfair.

Arse. Anyone willing to take the draw now?

Groan 2-1 Villa

Everton equalise. Nice.

Saved. Sweet!

Sigh. QPR penalty.