The changes were rung and in the main worked as Tonda Eckert re jigged both his starting line up and formation and in doing so earned our first win in 7 games or is it 8, it doesn't matter the important thing was the three points.

Tonda Eckert made numerous changes to the side that lost to Hull City at the weekend and he also sent the team out in a 4-4-2 formation with Elias Jelert and Welington in the full back positions with the two central defenders being Harwood-Bellis & Jack Stephens.

The midfield was easy to predict, Fellows, Jander, Downes & Scienza with Finn Azaz & Ross Stewart in the attacking roles.

It was a strong bench, boosted by the return of Shea Charles after over 3 months out with injury.

Saints started well and seemed to have more confidence about them with the new formation and it soon paid dividends with Leo Scienza cutting in and hitting a goalbound shot which took a wicked deflection and wrong footed the keeper, most of the rather sparse crowd didn't care, we were a goal up.

The pattern of the game was set and Saints should really have doubled their lead in the first half, but went in at half time good value for money.

After the break the visitors started to get more possession, but in truth did little with it and in the main Saints looked comfortable, a flurry of substitutions at certain times, helped with fresh legs, Ross Steward first off on the hour mark for Adam Armstrong followed by a triple on 78 minutes Jay Robinson on for Scienza, Ryan Manning for Wellington & Shea Charles for Finn Azaz with Charles being played in a more forward role to press from the front rather than deeper in midfield.

But we almost threw it away in the final minute when a mix up in the Saints defence saw two player go for the same ball and leave it to each other and in doing so leave it to Patrick Bamford to run through with a clear opportunity, luckily his shot was weak and it was an easy stop for Daniel Peretz in what was the Blades only meaningful attempt on target, but credit should be given to the keeper, he still had to stop it.

After that it seemed tense but we saw it out fairly comfortably with Sheffield United mainly just pumping it forward in hope more than anything else.

The most important thing though was that during this match you could see the confidence returning, things were far from perfect, but they were going in the right direction and it was a team effort.

We can go to Fratton Park on Sunday with a win behind us and turn the pressure on Pompey who although scraping out of the relegation zone with a point at Watford, could be back in it but the time we arrive in Portsmouth.

I don't think many people would argue if Tonda Eckert put out the same side on Sunday, but I think it will be the strength of our bench that will see us through this one.

There were some good individual performances worth noting, Daniel Peretz looked a lot more confident, but part of that came with having a defence that didn't expose him too much.

He made that vital save at the end and just about the only thing he did wrong was late in the second half when he came and flapped at a cross and missed.

The two full backs deserve a mention, Jelert & Welingon looked good and more to the point got the ball forward quickly, even when Welington was replaced by Manning, we stayed strong, the dye had been cast.

Good to see Shea Charles return to the fold, that can only be good for the midfield.

The return of Danny Ings to his home City brought a rather cold reaction as he was roundly booed on to the field, when he arrived into the fray on 79 minutes, however in fairness he may have forgotten to take his wallet out of his pocket and so was heavily weighed down by the cash he has earned for doing very little since he left St Mary's.

Perhaps at some stage he will reflect on the way he left Southampton FC and wished he had concentrating on chasing through balls and scoring goals rather than chasing money.

This was a timely time to get back to winning ways, just a shame that we didn't do so on Saturday, if we had beaten Hull then we would now be just 4 points off the play off spots,
this emphasises that this season is still not over yet.

The only down side was the attendance, the official attendance given was 25,967 which was disappointing in itself, but understandable on a cold night with the game watchable on Sky Sports.

But the reality was that this figure included season ticket holders and many of them did not bother going, I would at a guess say that there were no more than 23,000 in St Mary's, I Personally knew 4 season ticket holders that didn't bother going, I would guess they were joined by 3-4,000 others by the empty seats in the ground.

But a win is a win and however some supporters seem to feel, judging by the negative comments I have been reading on social media, this was never about performance it was about winning a game of football and that we did !

All Photos Via Reuters