IT WOULD be easy to get carried away by Saints' poor start to the season - but right now what good would that do?

Yes, on the pitch Saints are fourth from bottom, have won just one game all season and have now taken one point from 15 under Steve Wigley.

Yes, off the pitch there are still questions that need answering.

Yes, all in all these do feel like worrying times.

But, for the next week at least, the players, fans and management have to stick together and have one goal - beating Manchester City at St Mary's next Saturday.

After this defeat at Fulham that game is now huge. In fact it's colossal.

Maybe it's premature to say it but it feels like one of those season defining matches. Win and the early jitters are behind you and you move onwards and upwards.

Fail to win and you are going to be having a battle for the rest of the campaign.

Nobody has the right to say that the fans are not entitled to knock their team if they want.

They have paid very good money to watch them home and away and it's their prerogative to do as they see fit.

But right now what everybody wants and needs is that win against City - if that doesn't come then is the time to damn, protest, chant or whatever.

The problem is that for the fans it's not just a disappointing result against Fulham or even just a poor run at the start of the season that's troubled them.

To be honest 2004 has been a pretty bad year.

Saints are onto their third manager of the year already and it seems so fresh in the memory that everybody was excited about going to Cardiff for the FA Cup final and playing in the UEFA Cup.

Perhaps by setting their own standards so high in some ways Saints have become their own worst enemies.

But while the fans want to see better on the pitch they also want to see better off it too.

Many a football club before has fallen into the trap of feeling untouchable when things are going well and then lived to regret how they acted when things start to go badly.

Football after all goes in cycles and it's inevitable there will be good times and bad.

What Saints fans may fear is that their club is starting down the road of forgetting what it's all about.

That's why it's time for people to stick together - for this one massive match coming up in five day's time at least.

Everybody knows the importance of it. There is huge pressure on the players to deliver and there is no hiding from that.

But as unsatisfactory as 2004 has been nobody would want Saints to do so badly they ended up trying to avoid relegation on the final day just to say 'I told you so.' And the club need to appreciate that too.

At least there were signs of improvement at Fulham even if the outcome was no better than in recent Premiership matches.

It's one thing missing chances as Saints did in this game but it's quite another not creating them as they have done in previous games.

Fulham had the better of the first half with Adam Green and Luis Boa Morte causing havoc to Mikael Nilsson and Fabrice Fernandes.

It was a Boa Morte cross on 24 minutes that set-up the only goal of the game which was converted by an unchallenged header from Tomasz Radzinksi.

Antti Niemi had a few other stops to make but while Fulham's pace and quick counter attacking caused problems during the match, it was Saints who created the better openings.

And unusually it was Kevin Phillips who missed the best of them.

Anders Svensson played him in on 15 minutes but his firmly struck effort was stopped at a decent height by Edwin van der Sar.

Phillips was even more frustrated on 82 minutes when a slip from Ian Pearce let him through on goal. He did have to fire across goal from a tricky right sided angle but will be massively disappointed not to have hit the target.

James Beattie went close with a couple of headers and forced Van der Sar into action with a quick shot from a long ball down the channel while Saints' other good opportunities fell to Rory Delap.

The first saw Fernandes prove he can get to the by-line and deliver. He pulled the ball back to Delap 12 yards out but he lent back and skied his effort.

Delap was much more composed on 84 minutes when a scramble in the box presented an opportunity. He fired it low and hard but Van der Sar reacted superbly to block with his legs.

Now it's all eyes on City. Saints really have to win.