STEVE Cotterill praised the great courage of his players - captain Wayne Thomas apart - that went down bravely 3-2 to Southampton.

"The boys worked very hard," said Cotterill. "Some of the effort and courage that they showed at times in the second-half was really difficult on them.

"In terms of performance, I thought the 10 and the substitutes made good contributions.

"They ran their socks off. I've no problems with all the other players I've mentioned.

"I could not have asked for any more. They are dead on their feet in the dressing room. I really felt for them.

"You can't afford to play Southampton with 10 men, not for so long.

"There's a few teams in this league that you don't want to go down to 10 men and play against. Southampton are one of those teams.

"There's been a lot of money spent there this year and they are a good team. They will be up there, without a shadow of a doubt because good players will sustain it long enough."

Cotterill reckons the Saints will be relieved after snatching three points at Turf Moor.

He added: "That will be one of the best three points they will get this season, don't worry about that.

"But there was a fantastic result for us there and I'm convinced we would have got it.

"Whether it would have been at their place, I don't know, it may have been a different game.

"But here, I'm convinced we would have gone on and won that game."