Southampton's poor form against the bottom sides could derail promotion bid

Southampton losing away at Preston North End was the worst possible result Saints fans could stomach just before the international break.

For the fans that travelled, it's a hell of a distance from the South Coast to Lancashire, and that journey would have felt extremely tedious on the way back, after watching their flat team collapse to a 1-0 loss at the hands of their bottom-of-the-table opponents.

In a way, the defeat that was served up at Deepdale was horribly predictable, even if it was shocking in the moment, as Tonda Eckert's men have consistently struggled against the teams placed in the lower reaches of the Championship this season...

Eckert and Co. have no problem when it comes to facing the teams in and around the promotion positions near them.

Indeed, Swansea City were beaten with ease back in September 3-1, despite being near the very top of the league when travelling to St. Mary's.

Millwall were also knocked down a peg or two when they were convincingly beaten 5-1 on their own visit to the South Coast, having entered into that game proudly near the top of the tree.

Unfortunately, these statement wins count for very little if you can't overcome the so-called weaker sides, with Southampton's loss on the opening day against Watford made even more painful looking back, as the Hornets currently occupy a lowly 20th spot.

Draws against Lincoln City and Bolton Wanderers don't read any better, with both teams sat in 21st and 18th respectively, and then there's the crushing last-minute loss to Wrexham to consider, who are sat in 15th.

These dropped points could prove to be very costly, with Eckert needing to find a way to get his troops to beat these relegation-threatened teams, or this ongoing chink in their armour might derail their promotion bid.

When Southampton return after the latest break in fixtures, they have a perfect chance to silence their critics, as they face Derby County at home, who are sat just one place above Preston in 23rd.

Hopefully, a convincing win manages to blow off the cobwebs in style, as if another dire result occurs, the irritating hoodoo will painfully continue.

There just needs to be a inner motivation to beat whatever is in front of you, instead of just entering into the game expecting the win due to the stark difference in league position, with the likes of Leo Scienza needing to up their performance levels significantly, as the Brazilian faded in and out of the Preston loss far too much.

Last season saw Eckert and Co. wipe the floor with whoever they faced for a lengthy period of time, with March last campaign seeing them beat league leaders Coventry City 2-1, before then remaining cool to avoid a banana skin result against Oxford United, as the Saints beat the eventually relegated U's 2-0.

They need to get back into this resilient mindset, with Eckert stating last season that his team possesses a "deep confidence that you go into every single game to win, whoever it is against."

Complacency has begun to creep in now, unfortunately, when studying poor results against the likes of Preston.

The promotion aspiring Saints need to desperately revert to this 110% mentality, like the resilience the German has previously praised, when Championship action resumes in late November.