Mark Hughes has suggested that Southampton's cancelled hotel booking ahead of their Premier League meeting with Swansea City on Tuesday night was used as a "motivating factor".
The Saints were originally booked into the Swansea Marriott for Monday night but were suddenly told that their booking no longer existed due to a virus, though the hotel was reportedly still accepting bookings from the public.
Southampton's contingent eventually ended staying at the Vale of Glamorgan Hotel near Cardiff but Hughes insisted that the whole ordeal worked in their favour, the south coast outfit running out 1-0 winners at the Liberty Stadium.
"We suspected that maybe some of the dark arts at work but it didn't let us affect us," the Welshman told BBC Sport. "In fact we used it as a motivating factor.
"That helped our focus and we won't be staying in the vicinity of the Marriott Swansea hotel, I think we will stick to the Vale of Glamorgan."
Manolo Gabbiadini's second-half strike at the Liberty Stadium means that Southampton are now three points ahead of Swansea, who occupy the final relegation spot in the table.
Giuseppe Labellarte
