It wasn't pretty to watch and at times back to the wall, but in the end we got the job done and got back to winning ways and are now within spitting distance of the promotion places, sometimes you have to win ugly.
Saints win at Sheffield United see us sit 14th in the table with 10 points, exactly the same total that Russell Martin's promotion winning side two years had at the same stage back in 2024.
We now sit just 3 points behind the automatic promotion places and 4 points behind Stoke in 2nd place, of course nobody can say we have been good over the past few weeks, but we are still hanging on in there and on Tuesday night Saints showed that they can battle and win ugly and now with the confidence that this win brings we can hopefully start to win games and move forward.
There was no shocks in Will Still's starting line up, at least none that we didn't have on Saturday.
This was always going to be a tough game, yes the Blades were rock bottom of the Championship, but with Chris Wilder now back in charge for the God knows how many time and a win at Oxford under their belts just 3 days earlier, we were facing a team with new momentum and confidence.
In the first half in the main we looked comfortable but we failed to capitalise and it was the home side who took the lead on 28 minutes and again their was a suspicion that both our defence and goalkeeper should have done better, the scorer went past Quarshie too easily and Alex McCarthy went to ground far too quickly for a shot that went in at head height.
We kept going though and should have gone in at the break on level terms, but Adam Armstrong missed the penalty.
At half time there were two strange changes, Finn Azaz hasn't quite caught fire here yet and on came Jay Robinson, but truly baffling was the removal of Tom Fellows who was playing without fear and making some great runs and dribbles.
The Blades with their manager Chris Wilder now in the stands for childish petulance after the penalty incident came out of the traps first and it took McCarthy to redeem himself with a great save soon after the break to stop Saints going two goals down.
Minutes later the Blades paid the price when a superb header from Adam Armstrong came back off the bar and Ross Stewart fired home through a crowd of players to level things, 7 minutes later and we were in front, Jay Robinson slipping the ball to Stewart who scored from 25 yards with a great shot into the top corner.
Now the game had really turned and the Blades were wilder than they were for the penalty given.
With half an hour to go we had the lead and they had nothing to lose and poured forward, however we showed we had resilience and dug in, in the 75th minute Will Still made a double change to bring on Flynn Downes in the centre and Mads Roerslev to give us fresh legs.
The Blades poured forward with pace, but we defended well and had the strength at the back to defend the crosses into the box.
There was only one moment when it looked like it had been thrown away when in the 89th minute when Peck headed home a corner at the far post, it looked like McCarthy was flapping, but he was being held down and unable to jump and with the referee clearly blowing before Peck's header the Sheffield man got in an unchallenged header that he might not have got if the referee had not already blown.
So at the end of the day three points and we are now only 4 points off the Automatic promotion spot, I know it is all ifs and buts, however that gap would be smaller had we held on against Boro on Saturday.
We now have a two game unbeaten run and are growing in confidence and beginning to find identity on the pitch and more to the point we have a very strong bench that will be useful going forward.
We have three strikers proven at Championship level and a fourth in Damian Downs who is adapting to the English game.
The resurgence of Ross Stewart last night was a real boost, he did not just score two superb goals but was a threat all night, his aerial strength gave us something we have been lacking, two great headers in the first half saw two great saves from the home keeper, many had written him off but he could well yet be the hero of this season.
That is why we should not yet write off Damian Downs, we should remember his superb goal against Espanyol in pre season that showed that he has something about him and give him leeway and the benefit of the doubt for a little while yet, with Armstrong, Stewart & Archer all in front of him at present, he has time to develop and could well contribute something this season.
There are precedents for this, Shea Charles was written off two years ago, yet he is now starring after time out on loan, likewise Ronnie Edwards and Nathan Wood who both were strong at the back last evening, they couldn't get a game last season, but at Championship level are class and Championship level is what we need this season, we can worry about Premier Level if we get back there.
So no one will be completely pleased with last nights performance, but it was a big step forward and proof that we are promotion contenders
We have to give the manager and his side time to show that they can mount a promotion challenge, we have to give them the benefit of the doubt, there will be mistakes, but hopefully the mistakes will not be as frequent as the high spots.
This was a big win for Will Still, he needed to get it under his belt, the result was always going to be more important than the performance, but we are now moving forward and if we can make it two wins in a row at Derby on Saturday then we will truly be on the right path.