Every word Southampton boss Martin said after win vs Everton

Can you summarise your feelings at the full-time whistle? 

RM: It was a big relief, happiness, gratitude and pride in the players and the staff and the supporters and the owners and the board.

We've been in a really tough period so for the guys to stick with... you guys spend a bit of time at the training ground and stuff and it's never felt any different.

The cloud of not having a win has hung over things but the way they work, the way they train and the way they interact with each other, they're amazing. 

They're an amazing group to work with. I love them and I love being here so I want to drag it out for as long as I can. A win will certainly help that.

Needed a bit of luck with VAR but how pleased you've gotten over the line?

RM: Is it luck if it's VAR? It's scientific. We've been on the wrong end of a few tight ones. It's a big bit of learning for us as well.

It was so tight. We'd just scored and everyone's caught up in the emotion. That could have completely taken this out and it would have been horrific feelings.

It wasn't a nice feeling for us for a couple of minutes it was happening. Then after that, they threw everything at us and they're a good team. 

Strong team, organised and make it so difficult for you. I think some of the football we played today was outstanding.

A few sticky moments when they took the ball off us because they were well-drilled. We recovered well from them.

Everyone stuck at it and we scored a goal from brilliant courage and composure in our own box defending the set play.

We head it down rather than clear it and play a one-two together for Matty Fernandes to drive up. I'm really proud of the players.

A lot is made of your style but today playing out the back led to most of your big chances.

RM: There were brilliant moments. I said that to the players, I think they've been criticised so much sometimes for stuff they're trying that hasn't come off. 

So I hope they get some credit when it does go right and praise and all that stuff because they deserve it. They will do from me anyway.

We won because we stayed brave and they showed courage and composure. Whatever way you play, you have to run and fight and defend and be aggressive.

I feel like they've been doing that and we've been so close to the points before. So today, to get over the line is a really nice feeling.

Aaron Ramsdale was signed to be a difference-maker, was he that?

RM: He's massive. I think I'm surprised he's here still and that we were able to get him. I'm really grateful that we did.

The support that was shown by everyone to get him. And it took a long time to woo him, court him and try to persuade him to come. 

But he did, and I hope he's getting as much from it as we are from him, because there's a character to him which is immense.

He has a good voice, trains properly and adds value in a really nice way. Then on the pitch, his saves today were amazing. 

The one from Michael Keane, the top, top save, which we knew he would give us moments like that, and that can be the difference.

But also the pressure he takes with the ball. At Man City last week, he did incredible things.  Today, some brilliant things.

For me, he's a complete goalkeeper that we're really lucky to have, and we have to enjoy it. And he has such high standards, and I'm pleased for him today. 

He keeps a clean sheet, and I think he has an appreciation of what we're trying to be and who we're trying to be, and just desperate to help us, and he has done.

How big could this goal be for Adam Armstrong as a Premier League player?

rm: I hope it's the start of really brilliant things for him and us in the Premier League. I really do. Leaving Arma out of the team is one of the hardest things. 

Arma, Jack Stephens and all the guys that have played and done so well for us over a long period last season. Adam was amazing.

He got into the team of the year and won our player of the year. So it's been a bit harsh on him, to be honest. I've really wrestled with it.

I have lost sleep over that because it's not easy. He's such a brilliant character, a brilliant player. But the way he's reacted to it has been immense.

He has trained properly, no sulking, got his head down. When he has a frustration he has come to see me in the office rather than take it out on the training pitch.

We've had some interesting and difficult conversations. I'm always honest with him. I said to him he's going to have a chance at some point and the team needed him.

We knew that after the Man City game when came on at half-time. He's been really unfortunate because he started as a nine and then Cam Archer came in.

Then Tyler Dibling has just played and done brilliantly. But it was the right time for Tyler to come out and keep him fresh. He had a big impact when he came on. 

So I'm so pleased for Arma. And he wouldn't have scored if Cam Archer didn't run to goal. So they're working together and they're playing. 

It's a brilliant run. But he wants to score and he's a brilliant example of Arma to attack the goal. He had three chances at the back stick. 

The crosses just weren't quite right and fizzed into him, but I'm so pleased for him and hopefully, he will kick on from there.

This is a moment to enjoy but do you have one eye on next week being as massive as this?

RM: Yeah, they all are, honestly. So we're going to be fighting, I hope, for something all season and to be in a better position than where we are now.

But we have one win, so it's not like we've done it, we've cracked it. We've got one win. We need to kick on, we need to improve.

We need to be better in every department because it's tough. But I feel like the lads have drawn a line in the sand the last couple of weeks.

They have said 'No, we are going to go attack this and we're going to beat this team and we're going to try and do it no matter what'.

They did at City and were brilliant in large parts. They did today and got the reward. I hope it's justification for them to stick with it and keep their belief.

Also for the fans. I'm really grateful to them. They've been amazing, even outside of here when I'm walking around and stuff. The support has been brilliant.

Could this win give players confidence to gamble in the final third a bit more?

RM: You have to build off something. We stopped building up properly and playing out properly, it was sort of a bit in between Ipswich and Leicester here.

When we got in front, there was tension and we stopped doing what makes us us and what gives us a bit of an advantage, I think. 

We can't just turn up and fight and roll our sleeves up. With the players we're playing against, we have to have something to fall back on.

We've gone back to trying to be the team we want to be with the ball. Then it's building blocks again and we get to the final third and we're playing.

Ryan Manning's out there and done a great job for us and doing a great job. He's not a natural winger. Cam needs a bit more support than he's getting.

We'll get there. That's the process and we'll show them the clips and we'll try and learn from that. We got there (the box) a lot today.

We got there a lot on Tuesday (against Stoke City) and now we need a bit extra when we get there so it's up to us to make sure we keep working.

Matty Fernandes seems to get better and better every week, doesn't he?

RM: Amazing player. Brilliant. Top young man. Top talent. But nowhere near ready to play for anyone else, he needs a good couple of years here for us first.

Have you felt the pressure a bit more in the last couple of weeks?

RM: Not from inside the club, no. Not from the owners, not from the board.

How about from yourself, mentally? 

RM: Honestly, I think I'm at a point in my life where I can maintain perspective fairly well in my life and where I've come from to here.

I genuinely feel no different to when I was at MK Dons in League One and took over in a relegation battle there.

I had the same level of care and feeling for the people I worked with there and the opportunity I had in the same way. The opportunity I have, I'm really aware of. 

I just go in, give it everything I've got and hope it'll be enough and if it's not, at least I know that I've done everything I possibly can.

The external noise, honestly, it's not that I don't care. Of course, I care because it affects my family more than it does me.

But in terms of me and how I work and how I operate and who I am, no, I don't think so. I have a really strong network around me of people I really love.

They care for me and they're really honest with me and I'm really honest with them and I'm lucky to work with a lot of them. Genuinely, I mean that. 

I'm in a job where if I let that affect me, I'm either going to get unwell or it's not going to last very long and I hope I can, like I said, drag it out for quite some time.

How nice is it to be going home with a smile today?

RM: Yeah, finally. To be fair, I won the staff game yesterday against the analysts so that was good and now I'm going home a winner today, finally.

Is Adam Lallana injured after coming off during the break?

RM: Yeah, he was injured. Nothing serious but he just felt his groin a little bit so we'll have to assess that.

He's been massive for us, the way he takes the ball and is so brave. A beautiful footballer to watch. He gave us some brilliant moments today.

Are you pleased with what your substitutes did today?

RM: I think they impact the game, that's all you can ask for. I think at times this season I've made subs that perhaps when you look at it in hindsight...

Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but the learning is maybe I could have made it a bit later or maybe I'd already had that in mind and I should have changed that.

Today they had a brilliant impact. Yuki Sugawara got an assist and looked fresh, Tyler Dibling was great when he came on.

Then Lesley Ugochukwu and Paul Onuachu helped to shore it up late in the game and Joe Aribo had some tough moments actually today.

But what he gives us out of possession and the willingness to still take the ball and understand other people is huge and he has a big part to play in the goal.