Southampton FC seeing a cost of nearly £6m per win in the Championship | OneFootball

It is set to be an exciting end to the season for Southampton in the Championship.

The Saints emerged as serious automatic promotion contenders after a 25-game unbeaten run between September and February, but a decline in form in recent months looked to have ended their top two hopes.

However, with Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Leeds United also faltering, Southampton are back in the race, and they secured their second consecutive victory with a dramatic 3-2 win over Watford at St Mary's on Saturday.

Goals from Will Smallbone and Che Adams gave the Saints a two-goal lead inside 20 minutes, but the Hornets responded well, with Ryan Porteous pulling one back in the 34th minute before Ismael Kone equalised with five minutes remaining.

It seemed as though Southampton would be forced to settle for a draw, but Flynn Downes won it in the ninth minute of stoppage time to seal a crucial three points.

Russell Martin's side currently sit fourth in the table, but they have games in hand on the teams above them, and they are back in action when they host Preston North End on Tuesday night.

Southampton's promotion push has no doubt been helped by an incredibly strong squad, and we looked at how much the Saints have paid per win in the Championship this season.

Southampton's cost per victory in the Championship this season

After a host of key players departed St Mary's in the summer following relegation, including the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Romeo Lavia and Tino Livramento, Southampton faced a big rebuild.

Eight new players arrived at the club in the summer, and Martin bolstered his squad further in January with the additions of Joe Rothwell and David Brooks on loan from Bournemouth.

The Saints are known to have vast financial resources, and they were not afraid to spend big in the summer, bringing in Shea Charles from Manchester City for £10.5 million, potentially rising to £15 million and Ross Stewart from Sunderland for £8 million, plus £4 million in potential add-ons.

Those signings added to an already expensive squad, which included the likes of Kamaldeen Sulemana (£22 million), Adam Armstrong (£15 million), Che Adams (£15 million), Kyle Walker-Peters (£12 million) and Gavin Bazunu (£12 million, potentially rising to £15 million).

Transfermarkt estimate Southampton to have a squad worth €161.35 million (£138 million), and having won 24 games in the Championship so far this season, that works out at €6.72 million (£5.7 million).

Only Leicester City have a higher cost per victory at €8.36 million, while Leeds United are in third place at €5.45 million, followed by Norwich City (€3.11 million) and Watford (€2.59 million).

Ipswich, who currently sit top of the table, have the fifth-lowest cost per victory at just €423k, underlining what an outstanding job Kieran McKenna has done at Portman Road.

Southampton are the second-highest scorers in the Championship with 81 goals, and that is the same as the number of points they have accumulated, meaning both their cost per goal and cost per point is €1.99 million (£1.7 million).

These numbers highlight the significant financial advantage the Saints have over many of their second tier rivals, but also how important it is for the club to achieve promotion back to the Premier League this season given their expenditure.

It has been a positive few weeks for Martin's men, and with their game in hand against Preston to come on Tuesday night, they will be looking to close the gap on the top two.