Ronald Koeman believes Saints cannot afford to let their concentration slip when they face Crystal Palace on Boxing Day at Selhurst Park.
Despite Neil Warnock’s side sitting 17th in the Barclays Premier League table, only outside of the relegation places on goal difference, Koeman is expecting a tough test.
Speaking to the club’s official YouTube channel, Koeman said: “I saw a little bit of the Manchester City game and they defended well. City showed their qualities but it is difficult to beat them.
“They are physically strong. In set pieces, maybe they are the strongest team in the league. We have to be well concentrated to have a good result.
“The stadium will be full and we would like to continue with our performance form the Everton win. The confidence is back to normal.
“I think the performance and the result gave us a feeling we didn’t have in the last few weeks. That’s positive but it is only one game.
“The team was working very hard to win games and they had a fantastic performance. It was nice to watch the team with all the problems that we had and the team showed very good character and got the three points.”
Koeman felt Saints had missed a little bit of luck in recent weeks that went their way against Everton to help them get back to winning ways.
“Sometimes you speak about why we didn’t win but sometimes you need a bit of luck,” he added. “The example is how we made our first goal on Saturday.
“We didn’t have that luck in the last few defeats but that was back and that gave the players the confidence. Then you see when the team play with all that confidence what we can do.”
The Saints manager is also looking forward to facing Palace on Boxing Day and then Chelsea two days later at St Mary’s, adding: “We have prepared for that. We knew a little bit about that in Holland.
“We had two seasons when we played on Christmas Day and the people liked it. Football is important for them. It’s nice to play two times this weekend, that’s great.”
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