The incredible stat that aligns Southampton with a previous promotion-winning team
Southampton fans have had a lot of memorable promotion-winning teams to treasure over the years.
Russell Martin's group would win promotion via the most dramatic route possible during the 2023/24 season, as they got the better of Leeds United, courtesy of a solitary Adam Armstrong strike, to win the Championship playoff final.
Under Nigel Adkins, the Saints went up the far less anxiety-inducing way, as the South Coast giants closed out the 2011/12 season as Championship runner-ups, having accumulated 88 points along the way.
Amazingly, when looking at Tonda Eckert's own promotion-chasing group right now, they are aligned with the unbelievable machine Adkins constructed...
The incredible stat that aligns Eckert's team with Adkins'
Eckert will desperately want to guide his team to automatic promotion, after last season's Spygate heartbreak.
He could be in luck, as BBC Radio Solent's Tom Murray has revealed that Southampton have won the same amount of points after 13 second tier games this season that Adkins' promotion winners had amassed at this stage.
That amount is 27, with the obvious caveat being that the Saints are only on 23 in the here and now due to a four-point deduction.
Still, this will be a very encouraging stat for the German to hang onto, with the South Coast giants looking like promotion winners in waiting when they breezed past Queens Park Rangers 4-1 on Saturday.
Fingers crossed, there are no bumps in the road, like the Spygate scandal from last season, and the Saints can go from strength to strength in their bid to surge into the top two, like Adkins and Co. pulled off.
Can they go all the way?
At the moment, there are only three points to make up for Southampton to leapfrog Swansea City, who occupy second spot.
They could well gatecrash the party as early as Tuesday night, when they travel to West Bromwich Albion, with the Swans needing to lose away at Portsmouth, as well as the Saints needing to clinch a win at the Hawthorns.
Away from just this stat, there are similarities between Eckert's current side, and the impressive beast Adkins had at his disposal, with the German arguably having his own Rickie Lambert focal point in Cyle Larin, who has seven goals already this season, despite injury problems.
But, Adkins and Co. didn't just rely on Lambert to deliver the goods to finish inside the coveted top two, with Adam Lallana a creative force from midfield, just like Finn Azaz can be for Eckert's troops in the modern day.
Additionally, Guly Do Prado ended up becoming a cult hero down the wings, with ten goals from 42 matches that Championship campaign.
Is the equivalent today Kuryu Matsuki, who seems to be popping up with crucial goals, such as the winner at Norwich City recently?
Both teams certainly know how to find the back of the net, with Adkins' men bagging a league-best 85 goals, on their way to reaching the Premier League.
Southampton right now will be looking to get to those numbers, too, in their bid to reach the big time, with a red-hot 28 goals already put away.
There is an awful long way to go, but there are good omens in the air to suggest the Saints could win promotion via the top two when all is said and done next May, as a a new unforgettable promotion team is potentially born.
