RALPH Hasenhuttl recently spoke about how he looks towards the relegation zone as opposed to higher up the table.

But Saturday’s result should change that.

Saints are now closer, in terms of points, to being fifth than they are to finding themselves in the Premier League’s bottom three.

The win at the weekend opened up a seven-point cushion above the drop zone and kept them just six points behind Manchester United.

Hasenhuttl will naturally err on the side of safety, but there must be a moment when he can start thinking about looking up instead of down, and beating Leicester is the perfect opportunity to do so.

Before the game, many would have been satisfied if Saints left the King Power with a narrow defeat and their dignity intact.

So, to go one of this season’s best sides and out-perform them, it should give Hasenhuttl’s Saints the confidence to extend their unbeaten run to six at home to Wolves on Saturday.

Let’s be honest, there’s no reason why they can’t do that because these are the sort of teams they should be competing with in the table.

If Saints were to fall back into trouble they would have to enter freefall at the same time as the clubs below them start winning all their matches.

And, given yesterday’s results, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that these two things will happen at the same time.

Yes, there is an argument of, ‘Look what's happened to Bournemouth in recent weeks considering where they were a couple of months ago’, but that’s a team plagued by injuries, playing without confidence and unable to find the back of the net.

Saints, on the other hand, are the complete opposite.

Hasenhuttl has a settled starting XI and, Yan Valery aside, has no injury concerns keeping him awake at night - although there could still be lingering nightmares about Sofiane Boufal's kitchen!

Oh, and Saints also have Danny Ings, arguably the most in-form striker in England at the moment.

Out of all the bottom-half sides, it’s Saints, and possibly Watford, that have all the momentum and they should continue to capitalise on that for as long as they can.

They have just three more Premier League matches before the winter break and a well-earned rest, but there’s no reason why they can’t win two of those games.

Victories at home to Wolves and away to Crystal Palace are certainly achievable, it’s just the trip to runaway leaders Liverpool that could prove to be a bump in the road at the beginning of February.