SAINTS cannot afford to take their foot off the gas in their chase for Premier League promotion after their rivals turned up the pressure on them yet again.

Nigel Adkins, pictured, saw his side knocked back down to second place in the Championship last night as West Ham secured a thumping 4-1 win at Blackpool – and that despite having to play midfielder Henri Lansbury in goal for 35 minutes after Robert Green’s second half sending off.

Blackpool’s defeat was the only crumb of comfort that could be salvaged from the midweek results on a night where other results also intensified the heat on Saints ahead of their trip to Watford at the weekend.

Birmingham extended their unbeaten streak to 15 matches with a 3-1 win at Barnsley and Middlesbrough crept back into the automatic promotion places at Blackpool’s expense after a 3-1 win at Millwall.

All but one of the teams around Saints have games in hand which means the table could look even tighter in a few weeks from now.