Ralph Hasenhuttl has reminded his squad they are far from out of a relegation scrap despite their win over Arsenal.

The 3-2 victory over the Gunners has brought a wave of positivity to St Mary’s, and lifted Saints out of the bottom three.

But there is a still a long way to go this season and Hasenhuttl is certainly not taking anything for granted at this stage.

“We are not out of the situation at the moment,” he insisted. “We are still in the zone where we are battling not to relegate.

“But it is a really important step that they see that when we attack the ball together and try to create our triangles where we maybe set some traps and Arsenal with very good individual players have problems to create chances.

“That can be a way to get more points.

“We have a very tough schedule the next weeks so it was important to get our first points and three we didn’t get for a long time so it was a very important win.”

Hasenhuttl sent all season ticket holders a letter in the build-up to the Arsenal game, as well as a token for a free beer.

He insists he doesn’t expect the favour to be repaid but is a bit worried that after a first home win since April it has set a potentially costly precedent.

“I have to say I don’t drink beer as often,” he joked.

“It was the first perfect step to help us.

“I heard when it works like this you have to do it every game at home so we have a look.”