Southampton manager Claude Puel was a relieved man after his side managed to defeat Norwich City 1-0 in regular time of the FA Cup third-round replay on Wednesday.
The Saints needed an injury-time goal from Shane Long to secure their passage into the fourth round, where they will face Arsenal.
"It's an important result," he said.
"It was important to win this game. It was a difficult game.
"Our first half did not have a good enough rhythm, and it was important in the second half to control the game and the ball.
"Of course, we should have scored before we did, but we prevented extra-time and this is important for the recovery of the players.
"All the players kept a good attitude, with good concentration. We gave no chances to the opponent during the whole 90 minutes, and in the second half we had many opportunities.
"We were perhaps unlucky, or not clinical enough, but the most important thing was to qualify and now we have an important game against Arsenal in this competition."