Saints fans are once again starting to believe that their team can actually pull off a great escape in the final three games of the season.

One thing that was symptomatic of the 1990's relegation fights was that both the supporters and the players believed that they could get out of trouble, they knew that it wasn't the best ever team to pull on a Saints shirt, but when it came to the death we had enough fight and commitment to pull ourselves out of trouble.

Back in 2005 that belief was there but suddenly in the run in we started to lose something, you felt that Harry Redknapp's heart wasn't in it and that started a rot that not only affected the team but the supporters as well, Redknapp clearly didn't know what to do and what looked like a safe position after a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough in March saw only 1 win and 2 draws in the final 8 games.

It surprised no one we went down, we did so with a clueless manager who sucked the lifeblood out of the players and the fans.

Now this season is slightly different, we have changed managers and we can now see a spirit in the side that has been lacking for many months, Mark Hughes has weeded out those who do not want to stand up and be counted and now has team with commitment and a passion as was shown after the win against Bournemouth.

This has led many supporters to start to believe we can do it.

We can as well, in the main this is a good team that was for a long time poorly lead and playing badly with no luck, now although it does have its weak spots, it is still stronger than the team that finished the second half of last season and got to 8th.

We needed something to rein still belief and the Bournemouth win was just what the doctor ordered in that respect.

Now we just have to be focused and the supporters have to do what they not only did 20 years ago in the 1990's, but what they did on Saturday against Bournemouth, forget the negative aspects of this season and concentrate only on the positive's for the last three games and get behind the team.

Show the players we believe and they will start to, the semi final at Wembley was made harder for us to win when the players saw swathes of empty seats, how demoralising was that to think even their own fans had no faith in them.

On Saturday against Bournemouth the contrast could not be more different, they came out to a packed St Mary's who got behind them from the start and stayed behind them to the final whistle, in those final minutes the crowd refused to let the players cave in, they drove them on and over the finish line, yes all football cliches, but they are true ones as anyone who has ever seen their team win a vital game of football will tell you.

We need this for the final three games of the season, Swansea away is already sold out, Manchester City is likely to do so in the next few days, sadly there are still a few hundred tickets left for the trip to Everton.

Those seats need filling, they are only £10 if you are thinking of going, your team does need you, we need the belief from the stands to be transferred to the players and to spur them on.

If you have that belief you need to be at Everton !

Photo: Action Images

DorsetIan added 17:01 - May 2 I don't think it's a coincidence that our revitalised team spirit has coincided with the return of Charlie Austin. Not only have we missed his goals, more fundamentally we have missed his irrepressible positivity and leadership. There is a bit of competition now with Tadic for this season's top scorer. I think Charlie will have a significant role in, particularly, the next couple of games.

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DockersRottingCorpse added 18:02 - May 2 Let's not get too carried away here. We beat a piss poor pub team from Boscombe who belong in league 2 to reflect their fan base. Let's just see what sort of performance we put in against Everton who are shite on the road but pretty decent at home.
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Jesus_02 added 09:59 - May 3 On the back of being unlucky against Chelsea , Bournemouth game was a massive one against a team that work hard, are well organised and where looking to get over the line themselves. Everton will be a similar challenge with a little more quality and a little less desire. Lets hope Bournemouth and Saints both win at the weekend
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Cjay80 added 10:25 - May 3 Just a note on the empty seats for the semi final. The ticket prices were way to high for the average fan and Wembley has lost its appeal now Spurs have been using it as a home ground. There's much less novelty, unless it's a final. Semi's should be at a neutral ground like they used to be years ago. Better to fill a 60k stadium than try to make a semi something it isn't with over inflated prices. I personally think we need 6 more points and they need to come from Swansea definitely and Everton. I don't trust Stoke to beat Swansea and I don't trust City to chuck out a weakened side for the final game either. A positive for us is that we play Saturday evening so we will know how other results have gone before we kick off.

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SaintBrock added 13:42 - May 3 Not all Saints fans Nick, only those who are hopelessly romantic and irrational. Nothing has changed much except that we scraped a narrow win against Bournemouth who for the most part dominated much of the match.
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