The Saints could stop marching in

Southampton are likely to fold before the end of the season unless a buyer for the ailing Championship club can be found - and that could be good news for Norwich City.

Southampton are likely to fold before the end of the season unless a buyer for the ailing Championship club can be found - and that could be good news for Norwich City.

Should Saints go under, then the team's results would be annulled and only two clubs relegated to League One - and that would leave City in a healthier position.

The Canaries would lose one point, as would Barnsley, Charlton and Derby, but the biggest losers would be Blackpool and Plymouth, who would lose the four points they have taken off Southampton this season.

If the assumption is that Charlton are all but relegated, then at least five and possibly more clubs would be fighting to avoid the remaining place, increasing the odds of City surviving.

A revised table would see Forest, who would still be in the abbreviated relegation zone, a point behind Plymouth and four - instead of two - behind Norwich. Barnsley and Blackpool would both have just a point more than City, with Watford two points further ahead - compared to the four-point margin they currently hold. All of which is complicated by this weekend's fixture list, which sees Barnsley at home to Forest and Blackpool at home to Plymouth.

The ramifications of Southampton's possible demise are huge and stem from a debt which has reached �30m.

The company which owns the club, Southampton Leisure Holdings plc, yesterday went into administration with its chairman, Rupert Lowe, resigning.

Joint administrator Mark Fry admitted the outlook was bleak for Saints.

“If we don't find a buyer for the club there is a very, very high probability that it will not last until the end of the season,” Fry said.