When you’ve lost three games in a row any win is a good win. And there’s no such thing as a bad win by four goals. But equally, the context is unavoidable. This is a Southampton side who are doomed, who are letting in 2.41 goals per game, who have lost 14 of their past 17 league games and who have nothing to play for this season beyond trying to scrape together the three points that would take them above Derby’s record low of 11. The Premier League’s USP is supposed to be that anybody can beat anybody, but it’s hard to square that with this Southampton.

No win can be taken for granted, but equally there’s not a huge amount of credit to be gained in beating Southampton. Comfortable as this victory was, it was unlikely to do much to assuage the irritation of some fans.