Ronald Koeman said recent results made it easier for him to change formation for the game against Everton.

Saints had played a fairly settled 4-2-3-1 formation for most of the campaign, but switched to three at the back to face the Toffees, with Shane Long also able to play higher up the field off of Graziano Pelle.

The changes were no doubt partly motivated by the number of injuries and suspensions Koeman had to deal with, but it worked a treat.

Koeman said: “Always first you have to look to your own team.

“There was a moment after the defeats to change that.

“We had some injuries, some suspensions, and also the reason was because I like the Everton team, how they play, and it’s difficult to control that and with five behind with three midfielders we had a good control and they didn’t have that space to play and that was important.”

He added: “Normally when we play the other system then we have more ball possession but our ball possession in the last few weeks we didn’t create a lot.

“It was a little bit more sureness behind, a little bit more control, and we have players to play in that system.

“In my opinion if you show the spirit we showed it’s more important than which system you play.”

After some recent criticism following a string of defeats, Koeman was asked whether he believes Saints are now back on track.

“We hope so,” he smiled. “We work hard to keep going, to continue what we are doing.

“It was difficult because we had four or five defeats in the last weeks, sometimes unlucky as we didn’t play bad, but not so good as in the first part of the season.

“It’s always the best medicine to come back to what we showed in the beginning of the season.

“We deserved it because we played well out of good organisation and were sharp in the box.

“We didn’t create a lot but we scored three times.”