Ipswich 0 - 3 Saints: Wotte's verdict

Saints' Head Coach Mark Wotte couldn't hide his delight after seeing his side run out 3-0 winners over Ipswich Town at Portman Road last night.

The Dutchman even went as far as saying that the performance was the 'best game of the season', but the 52-year-old also knows his team cannot afford to put their feet up, as there is still alot of work to be done if Saints are to stay in The Championship.

Speaking to saintsfc.co.uk, Wotte said, "I thought the boys did brilliantly today. They worked from the first to the last second and worked their socks off as a unit, but we are still in trouble."

Saints went 1-0 up after Jason Euell headed home from an Andrew Surman free-kick on the half hour, before sealing the win with five minutes to go.

The former-Charlton striker lifted the ball over the grounded Richard Wright, whilst Matt Paterson completed the rout with his first Saints goal to make it 3-0 at the death with a composed finish.

Despite the fact that Saints led by just one goal for the majority of the game, their dominance was underlined by the fact that Jan-Paul Saeijs and Chris Perry both had goals disallowed under controversial circumstances.

"We scored five goals but two were disallowed," Wotte continued. "I'm not sure why, but in the end we didn't need them because we scored another three.

"I was told in England that you can do alot in the box, but this referee was disallowing everything so maybe he was Dutch!" he joked.

"Seriously though, after the first twenty minutes and I thought unless we are unlucky here then we are going to win because we caused Ipswich so many problems.

"I don't think they were really prepared for us. It was a great night for Southampton Football Club and I think this was our best game of the season.

"The players did exactly what I asked of them, keeping a clean sheet and breaking well. We could have perhaps scored a little earlier, but to be honest, if you score five goals then everyone is very happy, even if two of them didn't count."

Next up for Wotte's side is a difficult trip to St Andrews to take on a Birmingham side that are looking to gain promotion to the Premier League. Despite Saints' recent good form, Wotte is starting from scratch and preparing the side to do battle once again on Saturday.

"We were much better than Ipswich Town and to play so well here after two home wins means it's a massive result for us," he said. "You are only as good as your last game and we had a good game last night, but we have another one on Saturday and they will be prepared for us.

"I think everyone has seen an improvement in the last week and we will have to pick up four or five wins in the coming weeks, but tonight helps alot.

"We are starting to play as a good unit and I think the boys are starting to enjoy themselves and so am I.

"The spirit is great, and the team of staff around the team and the fans are all right behind us now and that's also a big difference.

"I want to give credit to all the boys though. They did superbly and at the end of the day we had a cutting edge up front and made the extra goals at the end."

For the very latest Championship odds

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.