Charlie Austin was in a buoyant mood after helping Southampton to a comfortable Europa League win on Thursday night.

The striker scored a first-half brace as Claude Puel's Saints cruised past Czech Republic outfit Sparta Prague at St Mary's before Jay Rodriguez put the finishing touches on with an injury-time goal.

Austin told BT Sport 2 that it was an important victory having started the season without a win in four Premier League outings.

"It's a special night for me," said the 27-year-old.

"More importantly it was all about the win for us.

"Not only in this competition but to get the lads' spirits up because we've not had the greatest of starts in the league but we knew if we put a performance together the win would come and luckily enough tonight, it did."

Southampton will now focus on Sunday's Premier League clash with Swansea City at home.