FORMER Saints keeper Bartosz Bialkowski declared last night’s FA Cup tie “a horrible game to watch.”

The Pole has helped Ipswich cement their place as a realistic Championship promotion contender in recent months, having joined the club from Notts County last summer.

But the 27-year-old, who spent six-and-a-half years at St Mary's, could not stop Shane Long’s first half goal booking his former club a fourth round tie against Crystal Palace.

“It was probably a horrible game to watch but I thought we tested ourselves well against a top Premier League side,” Bialkowski said.

“They scored a good goal but other than that, they didn't really trouble us too much.

“But that is why they are near the top of the Premier League. They have that little bit of quality to win a game.”

Ipswich boss Mick McCarthy described the replay as a “damp squib.”

“We did not want that game to be like that. We wanted it to be a rip-roaring cup tie.

“They didn't allow it to happen.

“We should give a bit of credit to them. It is not always us that is to blame - we have tried our hardest, as we always do, but they had a damn good side.

“I watched them beat Arsenal, I watched them beat Manchester United, you know, so it is no great shame on us that we have lost to Southampton.

“The shame is, I guess, or the pity, is that we didn't have the exciting cup tie we were all hoping for.”