Ralph Hasenhuttl hailed a “huge step” for his team as Saints moved closer to retaining their Premier League status with a crucial win at Brighton.

Despite having gone three weeks without a fixture Saints picked up where they left off before their enforced hiatus to secure a vital victory and put five points between themselves and the bottom three.

It felt a very significant moment in the season, and that was certainly not lost on a delighted Hasenhuttl.

He said: “After three weeks break it is important to have such a huge step back in the league.

“I think we showed a good performance. The guys were very concentrated.

“It was a new shape, a new organisation, and all we were working on in the last three weeks was really working I think.

“I think there was only 10-20 minutes in the second half we struggled a little bit because the opponent was taking a higher risk and then it is not so easy to defend. We had one time luck when the ball hit our bar.

“We didn’t have the final counter attack that could be possible one or two times and otherwise it would be finished earlier I think so then you have to be on until the end.

“It was an important three points for us.”

The importance of the win was underlined by results elsewhere as relegation rivals Burnley and Crystal Palace both picked up wins to boost their own survival bids.

By Hasenhuttl’s own pre-match calculations Saints might only need another win and a draw in their seven remaining games to be safe. Given their current form - three wins in the last four – and that they may yet not even require that many points, things are looking up.

However, as you would expect, Hasenhuttl isn’t taking anything for granted just yet.

When asked if he felt safety was now closer, he smiled: “Not really much more than before the game and when you see the other teams also winning.

“It is important for us to look forward and not back and to be in shape in this period of the season is a very important part I think.

“The guys showed we are believing what we are doing and that helps us for the next difficult games.

“We have a huge one on Friday evening against a big team (Liverpool) and I think everybody is happy about that.”