Source: PA
Saints are looking strong - Pardew
Southampton boss Alan Pardew believes his team are in a strong position to reach Wembley after they claimed a 1-0 victory at MK Dons in the first leg of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Southern Area final.
Michail Antonio hooked in a first-half strike to put the Saints in charge and they survived a late onslaught after Morgan Schneiderlin's 80th-minute red card.
Pardew said: "I thought our application, attitude and pressure we put them under was the highlight of the night. We had players who were prepared to do everything to make sure we got a result and I thought we deserved to win.
"We worked on our pressurising and we never gave them a moment's peace. We had two or three chances before we scored so I thought the goal was deserved.
"The sending-off changed things for the last 10 minutes and then we were hanging on - I thought it was a really harsh decision.
"I expected to get at least a draw with the quality we've got but a win is a bonus. It puts us in a good position but we can't approach the home tie lightly."
