The first task of the season is to make sure that we hit the Premier League safety target, the second is to see what we can do in the FA Cup, Ralph Hasenhuttl suggests that there is no reason to take a breather now !

Speaking ahead of the visit to Manchester City this week, Ralph Hasenhuttl is insisting that the win at Sheffield United is merely the start not the end of his hopes for the season and that firstly we have to ensure safety , but the Austrian thinks benchmark will be a little higher than most season's:

“There’s no reason to take a breather now because we’re still in the middle of the season and everything is still tight.

“We had an important game on the weekend with an important three points for us, definitely.

“But it goes on quickly - we have now Man City on Wednesday and then, on Sunday, Brighton.

“You see the table, how tight it is. Fulham won also, so it’s still tight.

“I think it can be that 40 points you need this season because there is no team really dropping off in the back three.

“Fulham is a strong side, so it can be that you need a few more points this season.”

Ralph could be right, the last five seasons have seen 35 points the usual benchmark for survival, but the first of those seasons back in 2015/16 saw 38 needed with Newcastle going down with 37 points, this season could again match that total needed perhaps slightly more.

Back in 2016 after 28 games both Norwich and Newcastle sat on 24 points, so if the same ratios apply this season Hasenhuttl will be spot on.

That means there is still a little work to do yet in our final 11 games, reaching that target is completely in our own hands, of the teams below us and the one directly above we have to play Fulham, Crystal Palace. Brighton & Burnley at home with an away trip to West Brom, it should be well within our capabilities to get at least 7 points from these 5 games.

Although on paper it looks a simple task for Fulham to get to that 40 point margin, to do so they have to get 14 points from their last 10 games and that is going to be tough, they host Manchester City at the weekend and also face trips to Chelsea, Arsenal & Manchester United.

That is four very tough games out of the last 10, it is hard to see them getting very much out of these and that leaves them with a tough fight in the other 6.

The Cottagers would need to win at least 4 out of 10 to hit the 40 point mark and given they have only won 5 all season that is not going to be easy.

In their favour is that they have picked up 3 of those wins in the last 6 games, a run that has seen them rack up 12 points and pull themselves to the cusp of safety, but can they keep it up.

If they were to draw those 4 tough games they would be doing well, but to hit 40 that would need them to get 10 points from the other 6 games and that is almost the same points per game ratio they have just achieved in their current six game run.

Ralph is right to suggest that 40 is the target, I think Fulham will survive, but I think that they are likely to do so at the expense of Newcastle whom they play at home on the final day of the season

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 10:27 - Mar 9 Its not just Fulham though. Will all of Fulham, Newcastle, Burnley and Brighton get up to 38? Unlikely. The safety points number is usually lower than fans of the clubs in trouble fear so 40 will I am sure be fine. Is us actually getting to 40 going to be fine? Let's hope so.
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