Ronald Koeman believes if his Saints side can stick what has made them so successful this season then they have every chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Saints secured a brilliant 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford to lift themselves above the Red Devils and into third place in the table with 21 games gone.
The result marked a quite brilliant haul of seven points from back-to-back league fixtures against Chelsea, Arsenal and United.
It sounded out a warning to the footballing world that is not a flash in the pan, and that as Koeman has said all along, Saints can last the distance.
“We know that we have a strong team and that was important at the end of December that we got a point against Chelsea and three points against Arsenal and that’s a big belief for the players,” insisted Koeman.
“It is important if you are not a big club and you have to play against a big club that you are not afraid by the name or the stadium.
“We learned that in the last few weeks and I am not surprised we won because I know the players, the organisation in the team and we have 11 clean sheets in 21 games.
“If we keep the spirit, that we know each other and we know what we have to do in our organisation, then we can keep in front in the table, of course.”
Koeman admitted that his side rode their luck in the closing stages of the win over United as they defended valiantly the 1-0 lead given to them by Dusan Tadic.
Juan Mata did spurn a hat-trick of chances but United didn’t manage a shot on target during the entire match, which was a testament to just how resilient Saints were.
“Maybe in the last ten or 15 minutes they had some very good chances to make the 1-1 but until that moment in the first half it was more difficult than the second half,” said Koeman.
“It was about the movement of Rooney and he brought difficulties in our organisation but they didn’t create a lot about that.
“The second half was looking more comfortable in our positions and little by little a little bit more ball possession and a good goal and after that you know they put Fellaini up front and play the long ball and it’s difficult.
“We defended well, the spirit was unbelievable with the players and a little bit lucky but remember the first game, Man United was the lucky one and we won today but if you finally win, you deserve to win.
“It’s a compliment to the players how they play out of a very good organisation.
“I said before we can make it very difficult for them and we did it.”
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