Thursday 30 October 2014 14:31, UK
Fraser Forster hailed Southampton's fighting spirit in their 3-2 Capital One Cup win over Stoke City and admitted the Saints see it as a great opportunity to win silverware.
Ronald Koeman’s side advanced to the quarter-finals thanks to Graziano Pelle’s ninth goal of the season two minutes from time, after the Potters had erased a 2-0 half-time deficit.
Winning breeds confidence and the manager has been fantastic from day one.
Southampton travel to Sheffield United next and Forster says the players are very confident following a red-hot start to the season which has them second in the league behind Chelsea.
"We've said all along we want to do something in the cup,” Forster said. "All you can do is beat the team you're drawn against. It's just about taking it round by round and seeing what happens.
"It's been a really positive start to the season but we know it's only a start. There's a long way still to go and hopefully we can keep it going but we know how tough it is.
"Winning breeds confidence and the manager's been fantastic from day one. There are a lot of new lads and he's got a lot of faith and belief in us and lets us go out and try and express ourselves.
"That makes this game a bit more pleasing because our backs were up against the wall at times and we showed the character and the strength to come back."
Southampton edged a cagey 1-0 game against Stoke last Saturday and Forster admitted he was relieved his team were able to pull off a second victory in a week against Mark Hughes’ side.
"It's always tough to play the team you played just a few days earlier and it's a very tough place to come and play away from home,” he said.
We can be very proud of the way we played. The second half was a real battle but it's fantastic to be through.
"We scored a great goal early on through Graziano, which got us off to a great start. Two-nil at half-time is always a tough score line and we knew Stoke would come at us really hard.
"To score so early on gives them a lot of confidence and motivation. For us, you want to keep it at 2-0 for as long as possible. It wasn't to be but we showed we can battle.
"It would have been nice to see out the second half a bit better but to score the third right at the end to get us through is brilliant.
"It was a very tough game but we got there in the end. We can be very proud of the way we played. The second half was a real battle but it's fantastic to be through."
