Shane Long: "Everything went to plan"

Southampton striker Shane Long has admitted that "everything" went right for his side in Saturday's 6-1 victory over Aston Villa at St Mary's Stadium.

The Saints raced into a 3-0 lead as Sadio Mane scored the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history, and Long notched two goals himself to secure the victory before half time. Graziano Pelle also got on the scoresheet to ensure an emphatic win.

"Everything went to plan," Long told the club's official website. "Our high play up the pitch caused them a few problems and we punished them. The luck went our way.

"I thought we started the game well, caused them a few problems, and once we got the first goal the confidence came into us again and all of a sudden we were 3-0 up and in every attack we felt as though we were going to score.

"We got to 5-1 at half time and I think the main thing was to go out into the second half and not give them anything to get some hope out of and I thought we saw out the game well, managed to get the sixth and it was a great result all round."

Southampton are seventh in the Premier League table with 60 points from their 37 matches.