It was not an evening that will live long in the memory, but it was a case of job done.

In fairness, that will probably be the reflections of both Saints and Brighton.

The Seagulls pulled a surprise by preferring to blood some youngsters rather than field purely a senior team of the players not getting Premier League action.

They can reflect on getting those guys some action at first team level and valuable experience, even if not a result.

Saints did field that senior side of players looking for game time, and so it was a case of getting them through it to add some fitness and sharpness.

There was also a bit of added pressure to get a result due to the differences in the starting line-ups.

It is, in some ways, a somewhat sad reflection of where the League Cup now stands in the eyes of most clubs that it is a sort of weird reserve team competition, but that said it does have its advantages to the teams involved.

What exactly Saints learned from the whole experience of their 1-0 win at the Amex Stadium is a little hard to gauge.

The game was a dismal affair offering very little entertainment value for the fans who still turn up to support the competition. Indeed, for all the pre-match talk of VAR there was so little of note that occurred for the most part that it was rendered redundant.

And it was, in the end, the fact that Saints called for the first team cavalry that brought them the winning goal.

But at least there was game time for those out of the top-flight side, and a win.

When you haven’t won in the first three games of the season a victory of any kind is something to savour and be grateful for.

It gives Saints a base to build from, something positive to grab hold of.

Of course, most of the team will change for the game at Crystal Palace on Saturday, but even so that winning feeling in the dressing room is still infectious.

Saints had the opening, and best, chance of the first half after just eight minutes.

A corner was cleared back to James Ward-Prowse whose deflected low centre was headed goalwards by Moi Elyounoussi.

David Button made the save but Maya Yoshida looked certain to net the follow-up only to be denied by a goalline clearance.

Manolo Gabbiadini was the other Saints player to seriously work Button seven minutes before the break as his well struck low zipping shot from distance required the Brighton stopper to make a good save down to his left.

Stuart Armstrong also came close with a curling right footed effort that went just wide of the far post.

Brighton looked lively enough with a bit of pace on the break but just seemed to lack a bit of killer quality in the final third.

Their best efforts were generally from outside the box with Victor Gyokeres twice working a shooting position after cutting in from the left and Yves Bissouma and Alireza Jahanbakhsh both missing the target.

Saints were the better side in the second period.

Elyounoussi and Gabbiadini both had shots saved while Button had to be sharp to keep out Ward-Prowse’s free kick from the left.

Gunn also had a bit of action to twice save from Gyokeres, the first from a downward header that skipped back up and the second a near post shot.

Mark Hughes changed things up, introducing Sam Gallagher and switching from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2. It meant the frontline being less isolated and Steven Davis growing in stature as he dropped deeper.

Gallagher’s power caused issues. A stopping header from a Davis cross went wide while a driving run down the right and in across the by-line ended with a drilled shot Gunn had to save.

With nine minutes left Hughes sent for the big boys and threw on Charlie Austin and Nathan Redmond and it proved to be a decisive move.

Austin so nearly gave Saints the lead with eight minutes remaining when Button made a terrible error in possession and Gallagher robbed him of the ball.

The Saints man decided rather than shoot to lay it off to Austin who had to try and pick out a shot between two defenders back on the line but put it at Bernardo who was able to clear.

However, there was no stopping him when he bagged the winner two minutes from time.

It was the two late subs who combined, Redmond crossing from the left by-line for Austin to power home a header that Button got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.

It’s not a cup game that people will be talking about for generations, maybe not even a few days, but it might just be an important win in the context of Saints’ season.

They needed something to get them up and running.

Maybe this will be it, perhaps it won’t, but at least it is something to give some hope and a bit of positivity.