Southampton boss Ronald Koeman says the manner of their opening day defeat at Liverpool sparked this season's success.
Southampton now sit in third place in the Premier League following Saturday's 8-0 hammering of Sunderland.
"The players that the squad has have great ambition, good last season and eighth in the table was fantastic," he said.
"But the club is like a family and that brings confidence. The first game against Liverpool away was important to show the qualities and after that everyone said: 'look they can play good football.'
"It was an amazing second-half and we deserved a result rather than the 2-1 we lost."
