SAINTS 3 - FULHAM 3

Week after week, it's the same old depressing story - another winnable home match goes by without the three points.

It's another game less to get out of the mess and with hard, hard matches still to play, the overall picture looks a little gloomier once again.

A quick glance at the fixture list is perhaps the biggest cause for concern.

Saints' away record is nothing short of dreadful this season and most of their on paper 'winnable' matches left are on the road.

While it was another game unbeaten at St Mary's last night, it was again one point when three was required.

But such has been the story of the season - draw at home and lose away being the general pattern.

But even with the poor form away from home, a few more wins rather than draws in their own back yard and Saints would be doing much better.

And what hurts them even more, is that many of those games that have gone have been the 'winnable' ones.

Draws against Manchester City, Birmingham, West Brom, Crystal Palace, Middlesbrough, Charlton and now Fulham could prove costly.

It all means that they still have to play Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Manchester Untied, as well as Norwich, at St Mary's.

And there aren't too many in that list which do look instantly winnable.

That's why if Saints are to survive, they're going to have to do it the hard way.

Either do the opposite of what most sides do and beat the top teams at home but draw with the lower ones, or turn their away form around and win at places like Blackburn, West Brom, Palace and Portsmouth.

Whichever way they hopefully end up doing it, the turnaround in form is going to have to come sooner rather than later.

It feels like a game-by-game countdown but that's what it's now becoming. It's 16 games left to save the Premiership status.

Time is starting to run out.

But all is not lost.

Saints just need to try and get things right at both ends of the field at the same time.

It seems when they don't concede they can't score and when they score goals they can't help but concede.

That was the story against Fulham. Yes, it was a cracking match but letting in three goals makes getting a win very difficult no matter who you play.

One positive at least is the Kevin Phillips-Peter Crouch pairing up front that seems to improve with every game.

Those two, given a run in the team, look capable of scoring the goals to give Saints a chance.

Also, the two new signings slotted in well, both Jamie Redknapp and Calum Davenport looking assured and confident but a little short of match fitness as the game wore on.

Fulham took the lead on 20 minutes when Papa Bouba Diop outdid Claus Lundekvam in the centre of the Saints area to head home Mark Pembridge's in-swinging left-footed free-kick.

But Saints were level within a matter of seconds.

Fabrice Fernandes picked out Phillips with an excellent cross and the striker made no mistake in heading home and the linesman kept his flag down despite a suspicion of offside.

On 29 minutes Phillips spun one defender, cut inside another and unleashed a right-footed shot that curled into the bottom corner to give Saints a 2-1 lead.

But just before half-time Fulham drew level when a series of defensive errors ended up with Steed Malbranque jamming his shot straight into the turf only for it to bounce up and loop over the heads of the defence and drop in.

Things got even worse five minutes after the re-start. After referee Graham Poll missed an apparent foul on Redknapp, Pembridge picked out the run of Tomasz Radzinski, no stranger to scoring against Saints in recent years, who fired low into the net.

Saints were lucky Fulham didn't then put the game beyond them. Andy Cole and Collins John missed good chances, Antti Niemi made a blinding save and Anders Svensson cleared one off the line.

After weathering that storm, Svensson put in a low cross from the right that Liam Rosenior inadvertently slammed into his own net and the game was level again at 3-3.

But, as is the way this season, despite having 20 minutes to push on and claims for a penalty waved away, Saints couldn't find a winner and had to settle for another home draw when they needed a win.