HUDDERSFIELD Town's record-breaking run drove their south coast promotion rivals over the finishing line says Southampton midfielder Dean Hammond.
Town need a huge goal swing to edge out Southampton from second place after a thrilling end to the season which saw both teams neck and neck, matching each other result for result.
Town's last defeat came at the hands of Southampton on December 28, when they lost 4-1 at St Mary's. Since then they have racked up 24 unbeaten league games.
But rather than being worried about Town creeping over their shoulder, midfielder Hammond said the Terriers run had served as a yardstick for measuring themselves against.
He said: ““They’ve been fantastic and it’s really pushed us on, because we knew we had to win.
“We’ve been very focused, the gaffer’s got us really focused, we’re always well prepared and winning the games like we have convincingly and playing some real good football along the way has just proved we’re worthy of going up.”
Despite being 17 goals better off than Town, Hammond has promised that Saints won’t slack off against a Wallsall side, led by former Huddersfield man Andy Butler, this Saturday.
He added: “We’ve still got a game and we’ve got to be professional. Walsall are trying to stay up and we have to do that properly for the teams around them."
