The Golden Boys travel to St. Mary's, the home of struggling Southampton on Monday night for what should be an interesting encounter between sides who have had contrasting fortunes this season.
Sky Sports will have their live TV cameras at the ready so the game presents another opportunity for Aidy Boothroyd's men to capture the imagination of the nation in much the way his team has captured the hearts of the Vicarage Road faithful.
Hosts Southampton are currently languishing in a lowly 18th place in the Championship table having endured a topsy-turvy last few years, and a seemingly never ending list of managers, which include Glen Hoddle, Gordon Strachan, and the ill fated Steve Wigley and Paul Sturrock.
However, it was the charismatic Harry Redknapp who was ultimately to take the Saints down at the end of last season, ending a meritorious spell of 28 years in England's top tier for Hampshire's premier team. When Redknapp made a surprising return to the Premiership and former club Portsmouth in early December under pressure Chairman, Rupert Lowe wisely chose to bring in another experienced campaigner to replace him in George Burley.
The former Derby County, Ipswich Town and Heart of Midlothian manager certainly knows what it takes to achieve success at this level, having taken the Rams to the play offs last season, and the Portman Road side into the Premiership a few seasons before. 
The cultured Burley (pictured right) has brought a fresh approach and style to St Mary's, and the fans have already taken to him, even though he is unlikely to ever live up to the popularity of now Celtic manager and fellow Scot, Strachan.
Lowe may have appeased the fans temporarily by his astute managerial appointment, but he remains a pretty unpopular figure, and indeed several protests have recently taken place, with supporters voicing their anger at his handling of club affairs in recent times, citing big money player sales such as those of Peter Crouch, James Beattie, Kevin Phillips and Theo Walcott as a lack of footballing ambition.
Lowe has eloquently argued that he has invested the money wisely to ensure financial stability, worthy for a boardroom and the business world in general perhaps, but not necessarily a prerequisite for eternal gratitude from football fans!
The loss in status has hit the Saints hard, and apart from the players already mentioned others have also left for pastures new, with Antti Niemi, Paul Telfer, Rory Delap, Henri Camara and Nigel Quashie all heading for the exit door.
The jury is still out over the players that have replaced them, with many still to realise their true potential, whilst of those that remained, some have struggled for fitness, most notably the injury prone Marian Parhars and experienced David Prutton. Their prolonged absence from first team action has not enabled Burley the freedom of choice in team selection he would have wished.
The new manager has however craftily used the loan system to the full after casting his net the breadth of Europe, the most notable captures being the permanent signing of Alexander Ostlund from Feyonoord and the loan deal of Grzegorz Rasiak from Tottenham Hotspur.
Burley has tried to play an attractive style of football, and get the best out of an ever-changing midfield which has included the on loan trio of Richard Chaplow, Jermaine Wright and Peter Madsen, as well as Nathan Dyer, Andrew Surman and when fit, Pahars.
The Saints' defence is probably their strongest suit with Ostlund, Claus Lundekvam, Danny Higginbotham, and another loanee, Jim Brennan (no not him of Coronation Street fame!) forming a formidable partnership, so it is no surprise that clean sheets are becoming the norm and indeed Higginbotham is, in the scribe's view, one of Southampton's best players, and sure to attract Premiership attention during the summer break.
Up front Southampton have found the back of the net just 35 times in 37 matches, and it is this paucity in front of goal that has no doubt contributed to a total of 18 drawn matches to date, a figure matched only by Preston North End and Derby County as the highest in the Championship. 
Recent form has seen a welcome three goal home success over Sheffield Wednesday, and Rasiak, who netted in that game, has settled quickly and begun to exhibit the sort of form that had propelled him into the Premiership in the first place.
In finishing it would be remiss not to mention Southampton's academy which has produced the likes of Dexter Blackstock, Walcott, Dyer and Surman to name but a few over the last couple of years. When one considers that Walcott, at the tender age of 16, is now rubbing shoulders with the likes of Thierry Henry and Dennis Berkamp at Arsenal the academy must be the envy of a number of similar size clubs and one that Southampton can be rightly proud of. One suspects that this emphasis in youth is the way forward if the Saints are to become a force in English football once more.
So the scene has been set and Monday night's game should be a fascinating encounter and a fixture that is sure to test the resolve of the Golden Boys, against a team that is notoriously difficult to defeat at their impressive St. Mary's Stadium.
We wish Boothroyd and the boys well and predict a hard fought away win.