RALPH Hasenhuttl praised Moussa Djenepo for the impact he made during Saints’ ‘outrageous’ last 20 minutes against Crystal Palace.

The Saints manager introduced Djenepo for the last half-hour against Palace and the winger changed the game with his pace and trickery down the left flank.

He came very close to winning the game with what would have been his first goal at St Mary’s, following Danny Ings' 74th-minute equaliser.

Hasenhuttl said: “I’m not unhappy for the result. In the end we had a big chance to win this game, to turn the table.

“But it is difficult against this opponent and difficult after a second game in 48 hours – what my team did in the last 20 minutes physically and mentally was outrageous.

“It was a really fantastic fight we showed. We absolutely deserved to come back into the game and we had a good sub with Moussa, we had good chances after the equaliser to win the game.

“When he is coming in he is always a fantastic sub, he immediately when he has the ball is full of self-confidence, a good guy. It's a pity he didn’t score the second goal because it was a fantastic move.”

Saints now head into their New Year’s Day clash against Tottenham unbeaten in three matches.

“It was another big step forward in my opinion. We had a lot of possession, we had to wait for the right moments to attack and I think we created a special last 20 minutes. For me it is a good signal for the next fixtures.”

Hasenhuttl was also pleased with the backing from a St Mary's crowd of 31,108 during the last 20 minutes and is hoping that will continue from the first whistle against Spurs.

"The patience was OK," he said. "It could be a little louder before we scored the first goal but in the end it was fantastic. Always when we score it is unbelievable. Maybe we can put this level from the first minute. That would be fantastic."