Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with their 3-0 win at Fulham.

Adam Lallana, once again the best player on the pitch, opened the scoring with a great finish before Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez got in on the act.

"If Roy Hodgson was in attendance at the games against Yeovil, Arsenal and Fulham he would have seen those three games live and in these three games those three players scoring goals," he said.

"It was very important that the three strikers got goals as that is always going to increase their chances of making it to Brazil - it was important for them."

The result follows from a 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal, Southampton coming out of a rut over Christmas, with Pochettino happy with the efforts of his squad.

"I think in that period we had quite a few injuries and players banned," he said.

"We are a very young team and don't have that many players within the team because that's how we want it.

"In a competition that is already months old it is normal that you will have ups and downs. We haven't forgotten the philosophy or the style of football we want to play, even if there have been ups and downs in that time and that has been very important for us."