Jordy Clasie says it is vital that Southampton show the belief that they are capable of winning this season's EFL Cup.

The Saints defeated the Gunners 2-0 in the quarter-final at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night to progress to the semi-finals of the league cup competition.

Clasie opened the scoring with his very first Saints goal in the 13th minute and the Dutch midfielder admitted it was a great thrill to contribute so heavily to a memorable night for the south coast club.

"It feels amazing," he told Sky Sports.

"I had to wait a long time for it but today was the day.

"I think we did very well as a team, a good team spirit, we played very compact. We didn't give too much space away because we know if we do that, then we've got problems against Arsenal.

"Even if they change a lot of players, but still a lot of quality.

"We created a lot of chances and maybe if we got more lucky we could have scored more goals but we are very happy with 2-0, and happy that we go to the next round.

"They have a lot of quality. We knew before not to give too much space away. But everybody fought for each other, every dual, so it was a lovely game.

"We enjoyed it a lot."

Regarding their hopes of clinching their first-ever League Cup trophy, Clasie added: "You have to believe otherwise it's better to say to the opponent they can win.

"You have to believe in it and also today, maybe most of the people thought maybe Arsenal is going to win but you see in the cup, anything is going to happen, so we are looking forward to the semi-finals."

The Saints will meet Liverpool in the first leg of the two-legged semi-final at St Mary's in the week commencing January 9.