There was a big surprise in store for Saints supporters when the team was announced for this 3rd round FA Cup tie, Ivan Juric had decided against rotation and was playing most of the players who started the last Premier League game.
Ivan Juric decided that getting back to winning ways was more important than resting players when he chose his team to face Swansea City, back came Mateus Fernandes after his suspension for the game against Brentford and also Ryan Manning and out went Tall Paul Onuachu and Nathan Wood.
Other than that it was the team that started against Brentford.
On the bench there was no sign of youth or the two recent signings and it was very much those who have experience both as Saints players and elsewhere, clearly Juric wanted to get his first win under his belt and he wanted his squad to get back to winning ways.
Again he persevered with Kamaldeen Sulemana and in fairness it paid off, playing as a striker Sulemana had a decent game, but there should be a word of caution, this was against a Championship side and in cricketing terms he would be described as a fast track bully.
But he should also be praised for his performance, a game won is a game won and with his opening goal and the assist for Tyler Dibling's goal for the second, he was in fine form, but then again so where all his team mates who passed the ball around as if it was last season.
This should perhaps be how we base the performance, it was not against a Premier League side, you had the feeling that the opposition were a yard or two slower than our opponents in the league, we got away with a lot that we would have been punished for against Premier League opposition.
From the very start we were in control of this game, we never looked like losing it at any stage, Swansea only managed 1 effort on target and indeed only 6 efforts in total overall.
We were comfortable in all stages and any lingering doubts that this game might be another defeat were quashed when we went 2-0 up after 35 minutes.
In the second half we kept our foot on the gas and once Tyler Dibling go the 3rd on 65 minutes, only then did Ivan Juric feel that he could start to make a few changes, the goal saw 3 of them only minutes later, one of whom was Tyler Dibling, that was a little harsh given he was on for a hat trick, but Juric showed that he was more concerned about the team and perhaps resting Dibling for the two up coming away games in the next 7 days than personal glory.
On came Adam Armstrong and Cameron Archer and both could have added to the score, Armstrong in particular created a great chance for himself and after getting into a shooting position scuffed the shot just wide.
It was also good to see the return of Will Smallbone who looked back to fitness.
Sulemana understandably got the man of the match award, a goal and an assist being the biggest individual contribution to the scoreline, but for me there were also some notable performances elsewhere in the team, Joe Aribo had a superb game both in winning the ball and also in going forward, likewise Ryan Manning who ironically has played better this season than last, Big Les in the centre of the midfield also dominated and a mention for James Bree who was solid throughout and made a tackle in the second half that if Virgil Van Dijk had made would be on repeat on Sky Sports.
But at the end of the day we have to put this game in perspective, it was against Championship opposition and it will be a lot different when we return to League action, but Juric's decision to put the emphasis on winning the game and winning it well and getting the players used to actually winning, a word that I haven't used much this season, was justified.
Talking at half time one thing that was highlighted was the fact that even allowing for the fact that 3 or 4 of the players out there, might not be here next season, we would still have a team that would be as strong, if not stronger than the one that won promotion last season.
So Sunday afternoon was a triumph and we haven't had many of those in the last 8 months, a home draw against Burnley gives us a great chance of getting through to the 5th round and also a good barometer about the level of teams we will face next season when we are inevitably back in the Championship.
Even the crowd was a little better than expected despite there being only about 600 Swansea fans in attendance.