STEVE Cook admitted Saints played with “incredible intensity” as Cherries saw their FA Cup hopes blown away by their south coast neighbours.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men set up a semi-final clash with Leicester City at Wembley next month, thanks to a 3-0 victory at Vitality Stadium on Saturday.

Nathan Redmond struck twice and Moussa Djenepo bagged the opener, as the St Mary’s outfit won at Cherries for the second time in as many seasons.

Reflecting on his team’s reverse, Cook said: “We knew what we were going to be up against – a Southampton team that play with incredible intensity.

“A Premier League team that, if you give half a chance to, will ultimately take it. There is disappointment reflecting on it but I think the lads gave everything.

“You could see last Tuesday night (against Swansea) in the last 10 or 15 minutes that fatigue was setting in and I think to have this game on Saturday on top of that, was difficult.

“The squad was fairly light. You look at the bench, obviously it’s nice to see a lot of youth prospects but the squad is stretched and I think the fatigue set in – especially second half.

“The lads gave everything and it’s a shame the journey has come to an end but no complaints.”

Cherries did have openings with the score goalless during the opening 35 minutes at Vitality Stadium – before Saints ran riot to emerge comfortable victors.

Cook said: “We conceded at bad points in the game – especially the first two goals were extremely poor.

“It’s not often teams will miss with Premier League players in the 18-yard box. It’s something we’ve got to learn from, there were a few positives but now we’ve got to move on from this.

“We’ve got to reflect and then recover over these next two weeks and make sure we are ready to hit these next nine games running.”