SAINTS will arrive at Middlesbrough today boosted by one of their best ever away records, as they bid to seal promotion at the Riverside Stadium.

The club will guarantee a place in the Premier League next season with a victory this evening - and there are plenty of reasons to believe they will get that decisive result.

Saints have won ten away games during the current Championship campaign.

That is only the second time since joining the Football League in 1920 that they have reached double figures in victories on the road.

The previous occasion was actually last season, when they won 12 away matches as they were promoted out of League One.

Should they beat Middlesbrough today, Saints will have won exactly half of their away league games in the last two seasons.

They are also facing a Boro team that has been struggling at home this term.

Tony Mowbray's side have won just seven times on their own turf, drawing ten and losing five in the league.

More than half of their 67 points this season have been picked up away from the Riverside.

At home, Middlesbrough have scored a mere 20 goals, with Nottingham Forest's 19 the only record worse in the division.

In their last four games at the Riverside, Boro have failed to win and have netted just a solitary goal.

However, they do boast some fairly stout defensive form at home.

Mirroring the number of goals they have scored themselves, they have conceded just 20 at the Riverside.

But their overall form has been poor recently. Just one win in their last ten matches has seen them slip to the verge of being eliminated from play-off contention.

Should Birmingham pick up a point this afternoon, and Cardiff and Blackpool both win, Boro's hopes of a top-six finish will effectively have been extinguished by the time they kick-off.