Southampton boss Nigel Adkins feels their FA Cup thrashing by Chelsea will be good for his players.

Adkins believes the shock of Saturday's 5-1 humiliation can provide the spark for the club's battle to survive in the Premier League.

He said: "We have been doing really well recently but the quality of Chelsea's performance was exceptional and that has given us a bit of a reality check.

"I wanted to progress in the FA Cup and put out my strongest available team but we are out of the competition and now we have to turn this defeat into a positive.

"We have a week to recover and prepare for our next Premier League game against Aston Villa and our destiny is still very much in our own hands. We still have plenty of optimism for the second half of the campaign."