Antonio Conte and his Tottenham players will be praying that Wednesday evening's late 3-2 defeat against Southampton does not prove decisive come the final day of the season.
On course for all three points after Son Heung-min had restored their lead with 20 minutes remaining after finishing superbly off Lucas Moura's cross, Spurs surrendered their advantage in the final ten minutes as Saints delivered a hammer blow.
Equalising through Mohamed Elyounoussi's header from James Ward-Prowse's cross from the right, the Lilywhites conceded an almost identical goal two minutes later as Che Adams turned the game on its head.
What will really have frustrated Conte about the two late goals Spurs conceded is that they were totally avoidable as both were free headers.
Firstly seeing Elyounoussi ghost into the box unmarked as he ran beyond Dejan Kulusevski to get in between Emerson Royal and Davinson Sanchez to nod home, Adams then did likewise as he got between the two Tottenham defenders to give Hugo Lloris no chance with his bullet header.
Missing a key chance to close in on West Ham in fourth after losing out on all three points against Southampton, the truth is that Tottenham were second best across the park and deservedly lost.
A Spurs win would have been incredibly harsh on Ralph Hasenhuttl's team, who had ten shots on target from their 23 attempts compared to Tottenham's three from eight attempts.
What was noticeable over the course of the 90 minutes was the absence of both Eric Dier and Oliver Skipp from the team.
The former was absent once again with the thigh issue that he sustained prior to last month's international break, with the latter missing out through a groin problem.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon as he previewed the Southampton game, Conte outlined the importance of Skipp to his plans when he admitted that he is pushing the medical department to have him back to fitness sooner rather than later as Tottenham "need" him.
"Honestly I hope to have him [Skipp] back very soon," he said. "The medical department said to me two weeks but I hope to have him available in one week or 10 days maximum.
"For this reason I try to push my medical department because we need [Oliver] Skipp to be available. We’re talking about a good and important player for Tottenham."
Admitting after Wednesday's defeat that he wasn't happy with Tottenham's passing against Southampton, Spurs' midfield pairing of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Winks just couldn't get a foothold in the game and it saw Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu come out on top in the midfield battle.
Skipp may have only really become a Tottenham first-team regular this season but his importance to the team is clear to see and it is extremely noticeable when he doesn't play.
Tottenham dearly missed a player who would press Southampton and give them no time on the ball, break up play and also get the ball moving forward, all of which the England U21 international does on a regular basis for the Lilywhites.
Dier was also a big miss at the back for Tottenham as Southampton caused them major problems throughout, with Lloris kept very busy indeed as the visitors took the game to them.
The ex-Sporting CP man may have his critics but he has come in for plenty of praise since the arrival of Conte in November with his displays key to getting Tottenham back on track.
The 28-year-old is a leader and his absence was certainly felt as a commanding voice in the backline was required throughout to keep Saints at bay and help the team take control in their own half.
Tottenham are much better for having Dier in the team and, as is the case with Skipp, Conte needs his man in defence back from injury very soon as some vital games are coming up in the top-four race.
The truth is that both Dier and Skipp are integral to the head coach's plans and Tottenham look so much better for having them in the team.
All will have their fingers crossed that they are in the Tottenham XI on Sunday when Wolves make the trip to N17.
