Southampton boss Russell Martin says losing four straight Championship games may have been the making of the Saints.
Saints endured a nightmare September with a 5-0 drubbing at Sunderland and home losses to Leicester and Ipswich, followed by another at Middlesbrough.
"It'll sound crazy but I think over the long term that will be the best thing that could probably have happened to us," Martin told BBC South Today.
"It strengthened us in a really weird way and I'm quite grateful for it."
Saints, who visit struggling Huddersfield on Saturday, have since responded with an unbeaten run of eight games, including six wins, to climb to fourth place.