Mark Hughes believes that Dusan Tadic is the perfect man to rely upon in the club’s current crisis.

The Serbian scored twice as Saints defeated Bournemouth 2-1 in a vital win at St Mary’s.

Hughes was full of praise for Tadic’s contribution to the squad as well as the game itself.

He said: “Until you actually work day in and day out with certain players you can admire them from afar as an opposition manager and I have always admired Dusan as an opposition player because he was a guy you worried about in terms of him affecting you adversely.

“Since I’ve come here I’ve been really impressed with the quality of his work, his demeanour, his personality around the group.

“I am pleased he is starting to have this impact for us because he deserved that because he’s a great personality to have in this situation.”

Tadic was left out for the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley but Hughes reflected: “We left him out last time because we were looking at different things and I needed to know about playing two up front with three in behind and that was the thinking behind that and we felt it could work in that game.

“Once I introduced Dusan and Nathan Redmond in the semi-final there was a little bit more threat and he’s affected the game in a positive way and it’s a huge result and he’s played a big part.”

He added: “I think everybody understood the significance of the result for us.

“It was vitally important that we got maximum points today as a draw wouldn’t have been enough for us to still be in with a chance of staying in the league.

“The order of the day was getting the maximum three points which is difficult and we knew that before the game because it’s been a challenge for everybody to get back to winning ways.

“It’s been a long time, too long really with the quality that we have.

“You have just got to find a way and that’s what the guys were able to do today.

“I thought first half we were good value for the lead leading into the half time break but we just switched off in a set play.

“We have faced something like 50 corners in my time here and that’s the first time we’ve conceded from one so that was a disappointment, just before the half time break as well.

“That could have adversely affected us given last time out here we conceded at poor times in games and you sense there is still a few wounds and a few scars from those situations.

“We picked ourselves up and second half I thought we were excellent.

“Dusan got us into a winning position and we weren’t to be denied at the end.

“Clearly it was a bit of a roller-coaster for everybody connected with Southampton given the last five or ten minutes of the game but we stuck at it, got blocks, headed things away, had two fantastic saves from Alex McCarthy who showed his worth once again, and got what we deserved which was the win.

“Over the balance of the play we had good opportunities and could have scored more as well.

“The key was to get the three points. We were able to do that, we are grateful but it’s just one part of what we need to do.”