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SAINTS are closing in on equalling a club record which has stood for over 94 years.
They enter this Sunday’s Premier League game at St Mary’s against Burnley, who have yet to score away from home this season, having kept six successive clean sheets across three different competitions.
Saints last conceded a goal in the closing seconds at Arsenal on September 10.
Since then, they have kept out Swansea, West Ham and Leicester in the league, Sparta Prague and Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the Europa League and Crystal Palace in the League Cup.
Burnley, in contrast, have lost all three of their away games in a row, all without scoring, against Chelsea and Leicester in the top flight and Accrington Stanley in the League Cup.
A seventh successive clean sheet for Saints against Burnley - who possess the worst scoring record in the Premier League so far this season - would see Saints aim to equal a club record in, of all places, the San Siro against Inter Milan in next Thursday’s Europa League tie.
Saints’ current record of eight successive clean sheets was established over two seasons way back in 1922.
They finished the 1921/22 campaign with seven in a row, helping them to the Division 3 South title.
Saints then drew 0-0 at South Shields in their first ever Division 2 game at the start of 1922/23.
This is the second time this year that Saints have kept six clean sheets in a row.
Last January and February Fraser Forster kept them in his first six games back after a serious knee injury.
Taking in his games in 214/15 prior to his injury, Forster established a new Saints top flight record of 706 minutes without conceding.
That beat the record set by Paul Jones in 2000/01.
Back then, the Welsh international went 666 minutes without conceding in keeping seven successive league clean sheets.
But, during that time, he conceded in the FA Cup - most notably the infamous 4-3 replay loss at Tranmere after Saints had led the lower division side 3-0 at half-time.
If Saints shut out Burnley at St Mary’s, it will be the first time since 1922 they have kept seven successive clean sheets in a row in all competitions.
Forster has kept five of the current six clean sheets - Alex McCarthy kept the other against former club Crystal Palace in the League Cup.
Forster is certainly no stranger to going on long runs without conceding.
Apart from setting a new Saints top flight record last term, he set a new Scottish League record in 2013/14 when he went an amazing 1,256 minutes without conceding during his time at Glasgow Celtic.
As he is now, Virgil Van Dijk was one of the centre halves in front of him then.
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