THERE was a top-class atmosphere during the entertaining game against Liverpool on Friday night.

I would normally walk from my car to the ground in six or seven minutes but it took me nearly 25.

Why? The Liverpool team bus had not arrived so I had to plough through hundreds of Liverpool supporters to get there.

Their sense of humour is well known and I was stopped time and again.

To be fair I really enjoyed it, they bring that sense of pride and passion to every game they attend.

It’s even more impressive when you take into account the distance they travelled and the fact most of them would be getting back home in the middle of the night (incidentally Southampton’s excellent supporters have even further to go for a 5.30pm kick off at Newcastle a week on Saturday).

I understand that evening games generally have a better atmosphere.

But surely the league should consider the distance supporters have to travel before they schedule them for television.

Saints started the game so well to the point where Liverpool would have been happy with a draw after an hour.

After the early goal hopes were raised of a repeat of our Friday night win against Liverpool at The Dell 25 years ago.

In March 1984, the talented Danny Wallace ended a move featuring several passes before scoring a spectacular scissor kick towards the end of the season we finished second.

But we seemed a bit over confident after winning the corner from which Liverpool took the lead on the counter attack.

Too many players flooded forward, seemingly forgetting how breakaways can often harm you.

Of course, that’s what happened, with Mo Salah scoring his excellent goal after running further with the ball than I have seen anyone manage this season.

That enabled the Reds to continue their exciting battle with Manchester City in pole position.

I have often said that Saints should be a ‘middle-eight team’ but we have been playing with top-six form since the beginning of January so I’m sure our manager cannot wait to get the season over so he can sort out his best team for next term.

With due respect to our forwards it make a big difference if he was able to get a top-class goalscorer. The club accounts recently showed a profit of more than £40m, a handy supplement to the television money that we all hope will be used to improve the team.

While taking nothing for granted I’m pretty sure we will hit the 40-point mark before the end of the season.

It may be that a smaller total will suffice but I suppose we shouldn’t take anything for granted with a difficult home game against Wolves on Saturday followed by trips to a Newcastle side smarting from their home defeat to Crystal Palace and then Watford before Bournemouth’s visit.

I just hope we don’t go into the final few games biting our nails. But I’m sure we’ll have more games like that against Liverpool to look forward to next season.