It took an extra-time own goal from Sheffield United keeper Paddy Kenny to settle the fifth-round replay at the Riverside Stadium after the Coca-Cola Championship side had braved an early onslaught.

Southgate was delighted with the character shown by his players a day after the club was left fuming by a decision to increase striker Jeremie Aliadiere's ban to four games when his appeal against a red card was rejected as 'frivolous'.

However, the manager believes the latest in a series of setbacks will simply serve to fuel the club's bid for cup glory, which will continue on March 9 with a home tie against Cardiff.

Southgate said: "It can work for us because as I have said to them on numerous occasions this year, nobody outside of our club is going to help them.

"We have had it over the last 18 months from the LMA, the FA, the Premier League - it makes you stronger and it cannot hurt us because it is from outside.

"It is annoying, it's upsetting for Jeremie in particular. The use of the word 'frivolous' is an insult, to be honest because anybody who is involved in the professional game where livelihoods are dependent upon it, there isn't one decision that's taken that is frivolous.

"I thought that was insulting in the extreme. But we have lost the appeal and we just have to make sure we stay in this competition so Jeremie gets the chance to play in it again, and that we secure the league points we need.

"With what has been said over the last 24 hours, that's probably the end of it, I would have thought."

Kenny's moment of misfortune came just seven minutes away from a penalty shoot-out as Mido's shot looped up off defender Chris Morgan and hit the post before being scooped into the net by the luckless keeper.

He had earlier made a series of fine saves, and while Southgate admitted his side had enjoyed a slice of good luck, he felt their performance merited the win.

He said: "We were very good in the first half and had enough chances to have been comfortably ahead.

"But of course, the longer it went on, the prize that was at stake started to take its toll on the game and the more and more it looked like it was going to be one goal that decided it, the game got a bit scrappier.

"We had several chances from open play and from set-pieces, and in the second half of extra-time, we could have again had it sewn up quite comfortably.

"But they pushed us all the way and in the end, it was a scrappy, quite fortuitous goal that got it for us.

"But in the end, I felt it was our character and guts that saw us through the tie."

Opposite number Kevin Blackwell felt it was wrong to attribute the goal to Kenny, and was proud of his team's efforts.

He said: "I will tell you what I thought was cruel, the announcer to say 'Paddy Kenny own goal'. I thought that was cruel.

"Paddy did not deserve that, he had played well all game. Whoever shot, give them the goal, as far as I am concerned.

"Particularly after extra-time and everything else, you want to go out and get on the bus and say, 'What a great goal that was, we are out of it because of something brilliant'.

"If you are going to win the cup, you need an element of luck. You need the ball to bounce left instead of right, right instead of left and today, we needed it to bounce right and it went left and went in.

"Paddy was unfortunate. But I am proud of the players."