While we looked dominant in the second half ,and in the closing ten minutes of the first, we were dreadful for the first half hour. West Ham could easily have scored two goals to take the game beyond us. The good news is that seeing Saints start a game so poorly is a rarity these days, and Strachan will make sure it stays that way.
"I think in the first half they were the better team," said Strachan. "They played cup-tie football but the game died down a bit and we created a few good chances in the second half.
"Once we got ready for cup-tie football we joined in and got the result in the end."
"It was a great result for us but a disappointing way for West Ham to lose. We have had three of those this season so we know how it feels.
"I said to the players after those games that it would even itself out and this was one break for us. West Ham were certainly the better side for the first hour but we were the better team for the final half hour.
"We did not match them on the basics like heading the ball and winning tackles and we needed some good individual performances to keep us in it.
"You have to give credit to their enthusiasm in the first hour, and we were kept in it by individual performances from Michael Svensson, Jason Dodd, Wayne Bridge and our goalkeeper Antti Niemi. As a unit we weren't that great, but those guys kept us in it with their brave individual defending.
"Defending starts up front and in midfield and we were poor there, which put us under pressure. We couldn't operate as a unit because we were all over the place.
"We were too one-dimensional but we had to see off their enthusiasm through that first half and for the first 15 minutes after the break. After that we looked the most likely to win.
"We changed to 4-4-1-1 for the second half because we had not had any movement up front but then we started to hold the ball up and get that movement
"Then we got the goal and won it because of our bravery which kept us in it while West /Ham were playing cup-tie football. Now we start preparing for Saturday's game against Birmingham when we will be looking to build on these two back-to-back wins."
"It was a good win. I know how hard an injury-time goal hits you because we have had three of them this season, so we were due one, and our bravery kept us in it and our ability won us the game in the end."