Southampton's Walker-Peters says winning 'means everything'

Flynn Downes scored a 99th-minute winner to beat Watford 3-2 at St Mary's on Saturday, sparking pandemonium in the stadium. 

It means fourth-placed Saints move within eight points of league leaders Ipswich Town, with two games in hand. 

Walker-Peters, who was named in the Championship Team of the Season at the EFL awards on Sunday, spoke to the Daily Echo.

Of the celebrations, he said: "I think if you look at the clip back, I dropped to my knees. It means everything.

Saints celebrate their crucial winning goal deep in added time (Image: Stuart Martin)

"We were slightly disappointed talking in the dressing room about how we let Watford back into the game.

"I felt like we dropped the intensity a little bit and didn’t go to kill the game off and we were punished for it. It definitely was a hammer blow.

"So that definitely felt good to get the third goal. We were aware of the other results. If we draw, it's almost like another missed opportunity.

"And we have done that a few times this season, so it was important we won. You could see what it meant to the fans."

Asked if Saints can finish in the top two, Walker-Peters responded: "Yeah, I don't see why not. We're in a good position.

"We've got a couple of games in hand and we play two of the teams ahead of us, so it's all to play for.

"We're focused on trying to get promoted automatically, but we'll just keep taking it a game at a time."

Saints welcome Preston to St Mary's in a third consecutive home fixture on Tuesday, April 16, after the match was postponed in March. 

They then visit Cardiff City before the trip to promotion rivals Leicester City next week, which could prove decisive in the race for the top two. 

"We’ll see what the table is like when we get there," Walker-Peters insisted. 

Kyle Walker-Peters in action against Watford on Saturday (Image: Stuart Martin)

"But in the meantime, we've got to win the games before then. Until then, we don't know how it's going to feel." 

Saints went three matches without a win after the international break to significantly dent their automatic promotion hopes. 

However, they capitalised on results elsewhere to respond with back-to-back wins over in-form Coventry City and Watford sides.

Both games saw periods where Saints surrendered the initiative to the visitors and Walker-Peters admitted it has been noted. 

The 26 year old insisted: "We spoke about that again in the dressing room.

"I think the problem is when it is 2-2, we then start playing amazing football again. It shouldn't take that. We should go and try and kill the game off.

"But we're still a young group and we're still improving and we showed loads of character to win.

"Another game coming up pretty quickly as well. It’s a game in hand for us. We want to close the gap on the teams ahead of us.

"Tuesday's a big one for us and we need to win."