Southampton must erect firm brick wall as West Ham plot Kyle Walker-Peters raid: View | OneFootball

Highlights

After a slow start to the campaign, Russell Martin's Southampton have emerged as genuine promotion contenders, and have not lost a game since September 23rd, when they were defeated 2-1 at the hands of Middlesbrough.

A 3-1 victory the following Saturday over fellow promotion chasers Leeds United has proven to be the turning point in the Saints' season, but even the most optimistic of Saints fans may not have envisioned that result would spark an unbeaten run of 14 games, including nine wins.

The Saints are one of the best sides in the Championship, and have a great chance of going back up to the Premier League at the first time of asking, especially if they keep this run of form up, then anything is possible.

The most obvious route for the Saints to make their way back up to the top-flight is that of the play-offs, but as festive Championship schedules go, Martin's men have a run of fixtures they have a great chance of getting a strong points return from.

Firstly, a trip to a lowly Queen's Park Rangers is a potential banana skin as the R's have had an upturn in form under Marti Cifuentes, but the Saints have the Championship's third-best away record, so should be able to navigate this obstacle.

After that, Martin's side will be aiming for nothing less than six points from consecutive home fixtures against Swansea City on Boxing Day, and Plymouth Argyle on December 29th before a more challenging away trip to Norwich City on New Year's Day.

Right-back Kyle Walker-Peters has been vital to the Saints' success so far this campaign, and Martin will need him to be on top form over the festive period and beyond, if the Hampshire outfit are to continue their promotion push.

The Saints must stave off any January interest in Walker-Peters

TalkSport recently reported that Premier League outfit West Ham United are interested in the Saints right-back, and David Moyes will want to bolster his squad following the Hammers' progression into the Europa League knockout stages.

But Martin and co should not welcome such interest, as Walker-Peters is such an important cog in the Saints' machine, and has impressively provided two goals and two assists from the right-back position this season.

Furthermore, the 26-year-old is a versatile footballer, who has the ability to cover the left side of defence, as well as his usual right-back spot, which could prove to be a very useful skill-set as Martin may opt to rotate his team as the fixtures come thick and fast over Christmas and into the run-in come the second half of the season.

Although the Saints would more than likely be able to push the Hammers for a high sum of money, losing Walker-Peters could be detrimental to their chances of an immediate Premier League return.

Kyle Walker-Peters on the ball

Although the prospect of playing Premier League football once again may be attractive to Walker-Peters, who has been capped by England twice, he should not push for an exit in January, as he has the opportunity to win promotion with the club he has been at since 2020, and if they win promotion together it won't be long until he is back in the Premier League.

Furthermore, for all of Walker-Peters' talents, his potential presence may not be enough for Moyes to justify dropping first-choice right back Vladimir Coufal, who has been a class act in east London since his arrival from Czech outfit Slavia Prague in 2020.

Walker-Peters has literally played in every minute of every Championship game for the Saints this season, a rare feat for any outfield player at any level of football, and something the ace should wish to continue.

The former Tottenham Hotspur man should not compromise this amount of game-time for the sake of becoming a Premier League player elsewhere, just a few months earlier than being able to achieve the same status with the Saints.