Southampton goalkeeper Peretz makes commitment to the cause clear | Daily Echo

GOALKEEPER Daniel Peretz quipped he would take a shot to the face 10 times more powerful than Ryan Sessegnon's, if it meant making a save.

The Saints shot-stopper was left motionless on his back after the Fulham winger's firmly struck effort from just yards away hit him in the jaw.

After a brief moment to re-enter the room, Peretz got back up and claimed the resultant corner, and his efforts helped secure the 1-0 win.

As well as booking a place in the FA Cup quarter-final, it meant the 25 year old January signing has kept an impressive five clean sheets in 11 matches.

Speaking to the Daily Echo at Craven Cottage after the match, Peretz said: "I would take a shot even 10 times harder for making a save.

Daniel Peretz has five clean sheets in 11 appearances (Image: PA)

"Normally, when you have a shot to the face, you go dizzy for a few seconds, and everything is okay, but you just need a few seconds to reset.

"Like a striker is obsessed with goals, it is the same for a goalkeeper. But a clean sheet is a collective reward because the whole team are working for it.

"It's in the way we press, and the commitment to tracking runs and how we sacrifice in the back line, so each one gives his part.

"As a goalkeeper, I have mine, and you can see my part more because you make a save, but, again, I think it's really a collective thing.

"We have a lot of quality to score in our team, so I know that when we keep a clean sheet, we have a really good chance to win the game."

Saints made it 10 games unbeaten with the victory over Fulham, but only one of those results came against a team in the top half of the second tier.

The quarter-final draw paired Saints with Premier League title favourites Arsenal, who are still in with a shout of completing a famous quadruple.

Peretz sees the win against top-flight opposition as "proof" that Saints can compete with the best, as they also look to secure a league play-off place.

"I think it's important for our confidence and for our knowledge of what we can achieve, and it gives us a nice push for the future," he said.

Daniel Peretz signed on loan from Bayern Munich (Image: Matt Watson / Southampton FC)

"To come here and to show that we have the quality and we have the togetherness to go with, every single one of us as a team, is a good push.

"We are really happy, so we will keep on going. We can win the next round, for sure. The quality is always going up, so we will have to do even better.

"But we will always give our best, and it's something that we can do individually and collectively, each one giving 110 per cent, so let's see.

"We respect all the teams left in the competition, but we fear no team, so we will do our best to go and qualify for the next round again."

The FA Cup quarter-final only adds to an already exhausting run of fixtures for Peretz and his teammates, but he is relishing the challenge ahead.

"We are used to these games, and for me it's a bonus to go and play these kinds of games. We are all professionals," insisted Peretz.

"We will take really good care of our bodies in these times."