Saints legend Paine fears the worst

10:28pm Friday 2nd May 2008

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SAINTS legend Terry Paine fears for his former club's Championship status.

Writing in his exclusive Pink column this weekend, the former England winger admits the fact Saints' destiny is out of their hands is a big concern for him.

He writes: "If Southampton are relegated it will bring me back to where it all started for me.

"My career began with Saints in the third tier of English football in the late 1950s and it would be tragic if we were to be relegated to what is now League One 48 years after our promotion from the third division under Ted Bates in 1960.

"I was covering the Premiership game between Derby County and Arsenal on my sports show on Monday night but I was glued to the other monitor to see what was happening between Saints and West Brom at the Hawthorns!

"It was a tremendous effort. Richard Wright was outstanding and a little unlucky to concede the goal he did. He made some excellent saves and the effort from the whole team was first-class.

"We seem to produce better perfromances against the better sides and Adam Lallana took his goal extremely well.

"It is good to see a local boy come through and get the goal that could yet keep them in the Championship.

"But my gut feeling is that we will go down, simply because our destiny is not in our own hands.

"What worries me is that we could go down even if we win and that is not the case for any of the other teams."

For the full column, don't miss this weekend's Pink - featuring four more pages of Saints v Sheffield United previews.