Stoke City 2-1 Southampton: The verdict

Before Saints faced Stoke at the Britannia Stadium he surmised that, to have any chance of finishing in the top four, his side would need to win all of their six remaining fixtures.

After losing to Stoke, he pointed out again that it would be a massive achievement for a club like Saints to even get into the Europa League, and that remains the aim for the remainder of the season.

It’s pretty much impossible to argue with him.

A disappointed Ronald Koeman heads back to the dressing room after defeat at Stoke

Saints have been hanging in and around the upper echelons of the table all season.

It has always felt hard to believe that Saints would break the top-four monopoly, mainly due to history.

But, all the while they have been there, it has appeared like the seemingly impossible could happen.

Now it looks increasingly unlikely that Saints will get into the top four, it is important to recognise Koeman’s comments that a Europa League finish is not something you settle for, but something you achieve if you are a club of this size.

To be fair, those that have followed Saints for any period of time know this even better than the manager does.

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In sport, it always seems better if you reach something like Europe with a run of wins from nowhere, on the crest of a wave.

Saints have had a great season to get where they are, but their success is borne from consistency.

Both Koeman and the fans have a bit of a duty in the remaining weeks of the campaign to make sure that things don’t just fizzle out as the season runs to a close.

Even if the top four cannot be breached, what a brilliant season this has been.

And what more incentive can anybody want than Saints fighting to finish above Liverpool (for the first time in their entire history) and Tottenham, after all that happened last summer?

That is still very much a possibility and, though the club will be keen to play down the Mauricio Pochettino factor next weekend, supporters will revel in and enjoy what promises to be a thrilling day.

Dusan Tadic on a frustrating afternoon for himself and the Saints team.

It’s a shame after the win against Hull that Saints couldn’t back it up at Stoke.

They had beaten the Potters twice already this season, and were really not that far away from doing it again.

In the first half at the Britannia Stadium they did very well.

Morgan Schneiderlin was particularly impressive and gave Saints the lead on 22 minutes, turning home from a yard out at the far post after Jose Fonte had flicked on a Steven Davis corner.

Morgan Schneiderlin prods home to put Saints in front at Stoke.

Saints had a couple of further openings in the first 45 minutes, with Graziano Pelle hitting the side netting after being found by Sadio Mane, Toby Alderweireld shooting straight at Asmir Begovic and Nathaniel Clyne firing over the bar when Pelle was well placed for a cross.

There was little agreement that Saints were the better team in a first half.

They stood up to Stoke’s physical nature and fought fire with fire with some occasional direct stuff themselves.

For all that, though, it should have been level at the break, as Steven Nzonzi failed to make any kind of meaningful connection to a volley three yards out when it seemed certain he would score.

They made no mistake two minutes after the restart, however.

Stoke forward Mame Biram Diouf celebrates his equaliser against Saints

It was a bit of an odd goal as Nzonzi sliced a shot from outside the area high into the air.

At first glance it appeared to be going over, as Kelvin Davis made progress back towards his own goal, but the ball dipped and struck the crossbar.

The rebound fell straight to Mame Biram Diouf, who slammed home a half-volley.

Though Stoke were much better in the second half, Saints might have won had they converted a great chance on 63 minutes.

Steven Davis played the ball down the right channel to Mane.

With Begovic charging towards the edge of his area, but finding himself second to the ball, Mane cut it back to Dusan Tadic.

He took probably a moment too long to shoot and picked out Glenn Whelan on the line.

A follow-up effort was saved by Begovic who had, by then, regained his position.

Kelvin Davis tries in vain to save Charlie Adam's shot

Stoke needed no second invitation and secured the win six minutes from time.

After Jon Walters’ shot had been blocked, the ball came to Charlie Adam who controlled and fired his half-volley into the turf and past Davis.

After the game, there were arguments over offside surrounding the goal and for a potential break behind from Mane, but, in truth, Saints were left frustrated at playing reasonably well against a tough opponent but losing.

We should not lose focus on how good this season has been, and that there is still a real chance to finish with a flourish.