Wycombe Wanderers 0 Southampton 0

But to see the finish line for the race for the top six move a little further into the distance after an awful game is possibly even worse.

If you come up against an inspired team who give you a battering then sometimes there is nothing you can do it about it.

You can hold your hands up and just reflect that on the day the other side were a bit better.

But for Saints, desperate for wins in their bid to hit the top six by the end of the campaign, to get stuck, literally at times, at Wycombe was a really winding blow.

Saints didn’t play badly – that would not be a fair criticism.

They worked hard, they battled away and on a pitch that was very sticky having been used most recently for rugby. It was never a surface that would be conducive to some of their smoother passing phases.

But then they also couldn’t provide the inspiration to unlock Wycombe.

For their part the home side were always dogged, they were well organised and determined as well.

You knew though that the more and more the game deteriorated into a scrap the more it suited Wycombe.

It was up to Saints to try and break those shackles but, while ensuring they didn’t lose the game, they couldn’t get free and get a goal for the three points.

It is yet another example of what we spoke about only two days ago.

Against the big boys of League One who want to take you on toeto- toe, Saints look like they can win pretty much every time they go out – even when they haven’t, they’ve been unlucky.

But when they come up against the league’s lesser lights, when they might be on a horrible pitch on a horrible night, they struggle to win.

They have never let themselves down, they are not bottlers or anything of that sort, they don’t just decide they are not up for the challenge.

But often they also can’t quite find that extra spark required to put lower placed teams away.

The match against Wycombe was the perfect case in point, coming so soon after the magnificent win over Norwich.

Saints haven’t wasted that result as some have suggested as a win is never a waste, but they haven’t capitalised on it as they should.

They are now back to 19 points off the play-offs with 16 games left and, even with two games in hand, they now need a really special run to make the top six.

What is for sure is that they won’t want too many more games like this on terribly sticky pitches which turn into an uninspired night for every poor soul who had the misfortune to sit through it.

Saints came close to conceding in the opening seconds of the game.

As they adjusted to the pitch, Kelvin Davis came out of goal but didn’t make a clean connection with his clearance.

The ball was hooked back into the Saints area where Radhi Jaidi slipped, allowing Jon-Paul Pittman the chance to get a shot in from 12 yards.

However, with time to pick his spot, he fired it straight down the throat of Davis.

It took until 19 minutes for Saints’ first effort of any note, Jason Puncheon shooting from the edge of the area but right at Tom Heaton.

Just a minute later Davis had to make a great save.

A corner was headed to the far post where Kevin Betsy met it first time but the Saints keeper charged over and threw himself in the way of the shot before it could get to goal.

The game then dipped into another of its many lulls but was awoken on 36 minutes.

Dean Keates hit a somewhat speculative effort from the edge of the area.

It was straight at Davis but took a nasty bounce on the pitch.

Davis looked to have it under control but the ball squirmed out and through his body but he was quick enough to dive backwards and stop it crossing the line.

Saints had the last effort of the half five minutes before the break, Puncheon shooting from the edge of the area but just wide.

The second half was an even more tedious affair than the first.

Neither side could be accused of a lack of effort but the game was a scrap with only very occasional flashes of quality to light it up.

Chances were also few and far between.

In fact it took 18 minutes of the second period for anything of even vague note to happen.

Rickie Lambert headed back a high ball from the right into the path of Adam Lallana.

It was an awkward shot but he took it on first time on the volley but it was well wide.

Two minutes later Saints came closer as Puncheon’s shot across goal turned into a cross into the six-yard box.

After Paul Wotton had been introduced for Michail Antonio, Lambert instinctively stuck out a foot but could only direct the ball straight at the keeper.

Davis, pictured left, made a terrific stop, probably the best of the match from either keeper, on 70 minutes when Pittman struck a high ball goalwards.

The Saints keeper stretched full length to turn the ball onto the top of the bar and over.

Lambert headed back for Lallana again five minutes later but this time from a better position the midfielder fizzed his shot across goal but wide of the target.

Pittman did something very similar at the other end on 80 minutes before Lambert had the goal in his sights with six minutes remaining.

He was fully 35 yards out but stood over a free kick lining up the target.

Lambert struck his effort very crisply but with the ball having so far to travel Heaton was just about able to get across and dive down to his right to keep it out.

That proved to be the last chance of a dismal match. It was an evening where the referee’s whistle would have been a blessed relief had Saints only nicked a goal before it.