Jack Stephens marked his 24th birthday with his first goal for Southampton as they progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 home win over Watford.
The visitors' new head coach Javi Gracia was overseeing his first fixture since his arrival to succeed the sacked Marco Silva, but their form remained unconvincing as they fell to a ninth loss in 13 games.
After Stephens' early goal they played with the same lack of conviction that had contributed to Silva's dismissal, finishing fortunate not to lose by a wider scoreline to a team also struggling, and who in that same period have won only twice.