WOMEN'S boss Marieanne Spacey-Cale is delighted that Saints beat Sunderland 2-0 to progress in the FA Cup.

Neither side could find the breakthrough in the first half as two of the best Championships traded spells of domination.

That changed after the break when Katie Wilkinson grabbed a brace to ensure Saints booked a place in the fifth round.

Speaking to the club's media, Spacey-Cale said: “When we saw the draw we knew it would be a tough game.

“Our aim was to be in the hat. We knew we would have to battle really hard to do that.

“I’m delighted to come up here and win with two really good goals. We said at half time that if we kept battling there would be a moment.

She continued: “The quality we have on the ball would come to the fore. We saw that with the goals we scored and our build-up.

“I’m really pleased that we have kept a clean sheet. We battled hard to nullify their chances."

Wilkinson's brace has taken her tally for the season up to six goals.

Spacey-Cale explained how Saints needed to remove their chance creation "anxiety" to facilitate opportunities for the 29 year old.

“We knew we would get some chances, we had some good chances in the first half. We knew we needed to be patient and less anxious with the final ball.

"Taking the extra pass out helped us create the chances that we did. We have a few players out injured at the moment.

"Hopefully, we get the squad back stronger in the next couple of weeks. The girls have all played their part - even the ones who aren’t here have supported from afar.

“They have been pushing the girls to get the win. We got the reward today because everyone wanted to be in the hat at the end of the 90 minutes."

Southampton FC have been assigned ball number two for this evening’s draw - which takes place at around 7:30 PM. 

The fifth round is scheduled to be played on the weekend of February 10 and 11.