Kelvin Davis said he felt ‘physically sick’ when Artur Boruc was caught out by Asmir Begovic.

The Saints keeper may be in competition with the Polish international for a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

But he was left was horrified for his colleague when he was beaten by a long punt downfield from the Stoke stopper just 13 seconds into the game at the Britannia Stadium.

In many ways, Davis’ chances of winning back his place depend on Boruc making errors but the club captain, due to start for Saints against former club Sunderland in the Capital One Cup tonight, took no pleasure in the goal.

He said: “My instant reaction was that I physically felt sick.

“I take no joy from that kind of goal.

“I take the point that I am in direct competition with Artur but I see my role at the football club as being more than that.

“I wouldn’t be doing that job properly if I felt anything other than sympathy and disappointment for the team.

“Hand on heart, that’s how I felt.

“I am keen to play obviously but I am not keen for Artur to make mistakes.”

Davis admitted he was immediately thrown back to a mistake he made at Ipswich where he ventured out of his area and kicked the ball directly against Marlon Harewood to concede a horror goal.

“I have certainly conceded a goal which for myself was embarrassing,” he confessed.

“It was in a similar situation in the first minute of the game and gave the lads 89 minutes to get us back into it.

“Unfortunately in my case we lost 1-0.

“The lads responded very, very well and even Artur went on and played very well and on another day we would have won the game.”

Saints know a win tonight at the Stadium of Light will book them a home quarter-final tie against Chelsea in a competition that Davis believes his club could win.

“I certainly feel that it’s a competition we can win,” he reflected.

“Probably last season I wouldn’t have said that but the reality is that we are not too many games away from a final.

“If we can overcome Sunderland you are looking at a home game then and regardless of who it’s against it’s a home game and we know what we can achieve at home.

“After that, anything’s possible.

“We are very ambitious and we are a bunch of lads that are all in it together.

“Whoever plays there is always someone to support them and back them up.

“That’s the philosophy and attitude we’ve got in our dressing room.”

Davis spent an unhappy season at Sunderland in 2005/06, arriving at the club after their promotion to the Premier League and leaving a year later with them relegated and his confidence battered and bruised.

The Black Cats recorded a then Premier League record low of just 15 points, losing 29 of their 38 games.

“When you play football it’s not a job that you don’t take home with you. It’s always playing on your mind whether you’ve won or lost,” Davis recalled.

“We didn’t win many games at Sunderland and personally I didn’t reach the standards that I wanted to, certainly in the early part of the season.

“It’s a situation that can happen to any player and my lasting memory of the place was a lot of defeats which is not something as a footballer you want.

“They are not particularly happy memories but it’s an experience I would not change because it certainly made me a better goalkeeper and a better person on the back of it.

“It was a good lesson for me, not just as a player but potentially for my career after football that I will be able to use in a positive way.”