WESLEY Hoedt is adamant Saints were denied a legitimate goal by referee Martin Atkinson in their 2-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea at Wembley.

With the Blues 1-0 up, the Dutch defender watched in horror as Atkinson gave a free-kick in favour of Antonio Conte’s side, rather than give Saints an equaliser.

Having come under pressure from Charlie Austin, Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero appeared to spill the ball across the goal-line.

Atkinson subsequently gave a foul against Austin for backing into the Argentine stopper, denying Saints a lifeline in the Wembley showpiece.

“You see today we had, in my opinion, a regular goal,” a bemused Hoedt said.

“I’ve heard that the referee has watched that goal and, I don’t know if it went to the VAR, but I don’t think it’s a foul because the goalie comes out with his hands, he’s higher than our striker. He (Austin) doesn’t do anything, he just jumps.

“Of course, it’s frustrating because the little things didn’t go our way and I don’t want to say it’s unlucky because I don’t believe in that.

“But, in a way, you have to push the luck a little bit your way.”

Hoedt was deeply frustrated by the way Olivier Giroud waded through four Saints defenders and netted Chelsea’s opener just seconds after half-time.

“I think it was five of us against one of them and that’s just not possible,” he said.

After Giroud’s strike – his 22nd in 26 FA Cup appearances – Saints rallied and had a few golden chances to level.

However, Shane Long squandered a big opportunity before substitute Nathan Redmond stung Caballero’s palms with a low drive on 72 minutes.

Chelsea substitute Alvaro Morata ended Saints hopes on 82 minutes, heading home from Cesar Azpilicueta's cross to make it 2-0.

“It’s tough to take. We played a good first half, we were in there, we were at the game,” Hoedt said.

“We kept it at 0-0 and then after 30 seconds in the second-half you concede a goal which is almost impossible.

“We had some good chances to make it 1-1 and you just have to make them to win these kind of games.

“It was not good enough and we had to open up and had to play on the attack, but they had more space with that and then the second goal happened and it was finished.”

Saints will now turn their focus back to their fight for survival in the Premier League at home to south coast neighbours AFC Bournemouth this Saturday.

Mark Hughes’ side have four games left to climb out the bottom three and are currently four points adrift of safety.

Hoedt insists Saints’ belief that they can avoid dropping to the Championship still burns strong.

“If I don’t believe it, it’s better to stop directly, but that’s not true,” he said.

“We just have to fight for it and there’s still 12 points to play for.”

When asked how Saints will pick themselves up after the Chelsea defeat, he said: “You just have to keep going, what else do you have to do?

“I think in the last few games we’ve not played particularly well but we’ve fought and we’re trying to get results.”

“We are not performing well enough to say it's only that that’s the reason. I don’t want to say that," he continued, when asked if fine margins have been the difference for Saints this term.

“Today, we had three or four really good chances and we didn’t score.

"We have to keep going and look forward to four massive games for us.

“There’s still a chance to stay up and we have to fight for it.”