IN MANY ways, Southampton's April schedule makes for grim reading, even more so considering this is the business end of the season.
The postponement of Southampton's March fixtures against Leicester City and Preston North End has intensified next month's fixture pile-up.
The St Mary's side must play eight Championship matches in just 27 days, including trips to promotion rivals Leicester and Ipswich Town.
April also serves as a precursor to visiting Leeds United on the final day of the season, May 4, for a potential promotion decider.
Russell Martin's side are currently six points adrift of the automatic promotion spots but already have one game in hand on second-place Leeds.
What has Russell Martin said?
Saints boss Martin is never one to overly express his worries or put too much emphasis on one thing altering this season's course. 'It is what it is' is something you often hear the retired defender say.
That attitude was seen when he was asked about the prospect of playing 10 games in 36 days ahead of Southampton's 4-2 win over Sunderland.
The retired defender explained how he will not use fixture congestion as an excuse should his side not bounce back to the Premier League.
He said: "I don't know if it will be positive or negative. We won't know until the end of the season.
"We are in the midst of a really relentless period and now we have to face another one from the end of March and April.
"I don't know if it will be good or bad but it's not ideal that we will look at the league and teams will have played two more games than us.
"It is something we will have to deal with psychologically and just ignore it a bit really. We focus on ourselves and that will remain the case.
"I would have loved the game to be on against Preston on Saturday but we now have had a bit more of a break. Thursday felt like our first proper training day for a long time.
How will Saints cope?
With a game every three days on average, April's chaotic schedule will put a strain on Southampton's promotion charge.
It will also limit the amount of time they can have on the training pitch, with recovery and preparation becoming the main focus.
That's why Martin has welcomed the extended international break as it will give the non-internationals time to work things out at Staplewood.
Daily Echo columnist Franny Benali, who played over 300 games for Saints, believes rotation will be key.
He said: "The international break will help the players who are not going away with their country prepare for the final 10 games.
READ MORE: Benali on the impact of Preston postponement & Saints Foundation matchday
"I know that Russell and the coaching staff will be diligently planning to ensure the players do not get burned out.
"As we have seen throughout the course of the season, players can pick up injuries at any time. If another key player goes down through injury it could be a factor in the results.
"Saints may be forced to rest key players for key games, but in Adam Armstrong, they have someone who can play every game. The same goes for Kyle Walker-Peters when he returns."
How do the players feel?
The players have to contend with the psychological battle of being two games and several points behind their promotion rivals Ipswich and Leeds.
Saturday's match-winner Joe Rothwell falls on the side of wanting to get the games played before looking at the table.
He told the Daily Echo: "The break has come at a good time because we have had a massive amount of games in the last month. This is a chance to rest before the last 10 games.
"Different people might look at our situation in different ways. For me, I'd prefer to have the games done rather than catch up on them."
Top goalscorer A Armstrong insists there is nothing to fear about playing so many games in such a condensed time period.
"It's what this league is all about, we have to look forward to it. We have games where we need to give everything to get back up.
"There is a lot of quality and experience here. It is about supporting each other and pushing each other - that is something the squad does."
Who is available for the run-in?
Southampton currently have four first-team players unavailable through injury. Juan Larios and Ross Stewart are highly unlikely to be available at any point next month.
However, Walker-Peters and Ryan Fraser should return soon, barring a setback in their recovery, which will provide a huge boost.
Walker-Peters had played every minute in the Championship before his injury and was not risked against Sunderland by Martin, who had an eye on April.
Fraser is also aiming to be back in contention for Southampton's home fixture against Middlesbrough just after the international break.
In terms of suspensions, Jan Bednarek is the only player close to triggering a two-game ban for accumulating 10 yellow cards.
Should the Polish international avoid a booking against Michael Carrick's Boro he can rest easily as gameweek 37 is the cut-off point for 10-yellow card suspensions.
Southampton's full April schedule:
Monday, April 1 - Ipswich Town vs Saints.
Saturday, April 6 - Blackburn Rovers vs Saints.
Tuesday, April 9 - Saints vs Coventry City.
Saturday, April 13 - Saints vs Watford.
Tuesday, April 16 - Saints vs Preston North End.
Saturday, April 20 - Cardiff City vs Saints.
Tuesday, April 23 - Leicester City vs Saints.
Saturday, 27 April - Saints vs Stoke City.
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