With a three week break until the next game, a vital six point trip down the coast to Brighton Ralph Hasenhuttl is aiming to ensure the momentum gained isn't lost.
The surprise victory over Spurs meant that Saints stayed out of the relegation zone after taking 6 points from the 3 games prior to the break.
Ralph Hasenhuttl now needs to ensure his squad don't lose focus and momentum with the enforced lay off and that the benefit of being able to get key players fit and back in contention isn't overshadowed by a loss of concentration on the task ahead and complacency doesn't slip in.
The Austrian manager had this to say about how he will keep his squad on track.
"During the three weeks they will have time to rest but the important signal is that we tell them it is not gone now and that it is still a fight we have to give because the other opponents are only two points away."
"Cardiff are only two points behind us and if we lost to Tottenham we would have been under the line and so it is not the moment to rest. It is not the moment to lean back. It is the moment to take this time."
"They will get time off but also there is time where we want to work on details on our game and I think with the win in the mind it is much easier than in the last break we had.”
"This situation is something new for me,” he reflected.
"Missing a Premier League game or league games because of a cup game is a completely new experience for me and to have such a long break is unnatural. A little bit crazy.
"We have to handle it and take the time.
"The first week we have all the players here and the next two weeks they go to the national teams and then training is not so easy because you cannot work on anything."
"The first week we take a few steps towards the Brighton game but then they go off and forget everything so it doesn’t really make sense.
"We find something to keep ourselves in rhythm but it’s not easy.”
Saints are at least in high spirits and looking good in their fight for survival and Hasenhuttl added: "The quality we show is one thing but you have to get points for it and that is the important thing.
"It doesn’t matter if you play well and lose the games. It doesn’t make any difference. You lose.
"The most important thing is to consistently take points."
"You cannot expect that we take three against Tottenham but it’s better to take this three than maybe one against Man United and one against Tottenham.
"It is fantastic that we won this game but it is still hard work.”
Hasenhuttl is right to be concerned, however it is not all bleak, several of the teams around them are also twiddling their thumbs for the whole three weeks and everyone is in the same boat for the final two weeks because of the International break.
The real issue is to guard against complacency, there is a new feeling of optimism in the supporter base and Hasenhuttl's record since his arrival is impressive and he has achieved that with almost exclusively the squad he has to work with now, although there were no arrivals in January, the departures had little game time under the Austrian so there is no reason why it should not continue.
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