Ronald Koeman was remaining level headed as hopes of a stunning top four finish for Saints this season grew immeasurably after they started 2015 with a 2-0 win over Arsenal at St Mary’s.

Koeman’s men followed up their brave draw with Chelsea by turning over Arsene Wenger’s side thanks to goals in either half from Sadio Mane and Dusan Tadic.

With results elsewhere going for Saints it left them looking relatively comfortable in the fourth and final Champions League spot as the season ticked just over the halfway mark.

With excitement in overdrive following victory over the Gunners, Koeman was staying steady.

When asked about Saints’ top four chances he said: “What I said before, I don’t say now after this victory we have more possibilities to stay high in the table but I believed before this game as well and the team showed that.

“We had a fantastic run in the beginning, (then) we lost four or five times.

“We didn’t make parties, or troubles after five defeats, we kept it calm and close to the players and you need a win to have the confidence to play good football and that was important and now the message to the players is every game you have to be prepared because every game is difficult.”

He added: “This result shows that we can beat a big team like Arsenal is and I think important was the draw against Chelsea because after that the players had the belief to win something in a big game like Chelsea was.

“Today we did less mistakes than what we did against United and City and that’s the big difference - if you are doing mistakes in your ball possession then they will punish you and that means the whole team organisation. On this level against big teams we are learning and that’s important.”

Arsenal certainly contributed to their own downfall.

Koeman was not about to slate the errors that helped Saints on their way but smiled: “I don’t like to talk about mistakes of the opponents because it’s not respectful but maybe the second goal was a new year present from them and we took it very friendly for them.”