Southampton suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Stoke City yesterday afternoon, but midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin still has a top four finish in sights and hopes that his team can finish the season as strong as they started it.
Schneiderlin opened the scoring for Southampton in yesterday's defeat at the Britannia Stadium before Mame Diouf equalised after a poor mistake from 'keeper Kelvin Davies. Charlie Adam grabbed the winner, six minutes from time to take all three points for the Potters.
The Saints currently sit in sixth place, eight points off fourth placed Manchester City with five games remaining.
Ronald Koeman's men entertain Tottenham Hotspur next weekend in a crucial game as Spurs sit two points behind but have that all important game in hand. Fixtures against relegation fighters Sunderland, Leicester City and Aston Villa follow before a final day fixture away to Manchester City.
Southampton have had a very strong season under Koeman - despite the sales of Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw at the start of the season.
Schneiderlin, 25, has been an influential figure to his sides success this season and as a result of his strong performances has attracted a lot of interest from many teams, including current FA Cup holders Arsenal.
After the defeat, the Frenchman said: "We wanted to achieve the top four and now it's going to be even more complicated but we're not going to give up. We wanted to give the fans the most prestigious competition but if not, we want to give them the Europa League. We want to secure European football for this club, that's our main target."
The Arsenal target has been a regualar in the Southampton line-up and has already admitted that he wants to play in Europe.
A win in their next game is vital for the Saints if they wish to play against Europe's elite next season. Schneiderlin may get the chance to play European football next year, but whose to tell it will be with Southampton.
Not many fancied Southampton to be where they are now at the start of the season and no doubt, if Koeman's men fail in their pursuit of Champions League football, Europa League wouldn't be the worst of replacements.