Saints marched on in the FA Cup 3rd round replay at Ipswich Town, but it wasn't without its price as Victor Wanyama is the latest to look like missing a few games with injury.
Saints current side remind me very much of the team of 1983/84 in the way in which they keep it tight at the back and break with precision and quality.
This was very much the case at Old Trafford and it was the same again at Portman Road where they cruised to a victory in a performance that given the changes made in both formation and personnel must have pleased Ronald Koeman greatly.
The game was won by the BBC Man of the Match Shane Long and was a fitting testimony to his work rate in this game continuing to harass the Ipswich back four, his goal though was somewhat fortuitous in that an Ipswich defender in making a sliding tackle slid the ball to Long who swept it in in one quick movement squeezing it in at the near post, it was so quick many in the crowd thought it had gone wide.
If Long thouroughly deserved his MOM, he was run close by Jose Fonte who was immense at the back and dealt with everything that Ipswich threw at the Saints defence, once again it was food and drink to Fonte and his fellow defenders and Ipswich only had one effort on target, a rather weak effort that Fraser Forster had no trouble with.
Saints only had one effort on target themselves but unlike Ipswich they did look a threat when they broke and really should have put the game completely to bed with one of a number of breaks they failed to capitalise on.
When Ipswich got the ball down and played they looked dangerous especially in the first half as Saints struggled to get to grips with the changes in the team, but too often they reverted to trying to lump the ball forward and in truth with 20 minutes to go and David McGoldrick limping off injured Mick McCarthy seemed to give up the ghost and seemed resigned to a defeat and was instead looking to the weekend.
This was not a game without a price though and that was losing Victor Wanyama to a hamstring injury in first half injury time, it looked a pull but hopefully with the player going straight down and not aggravating it further it might not be as bad as expected, Jack Cork returning could not have happened at a better time and that could have played a part in Koeman keeping Cork on the bench and keeping him fresh for the weekend.
All in all another good night at the office for Saints and we need to complete a good week by getting three points at Newcastle before taking on Crystal Palace in the next round of the cup.