After two draws on the road it was back to St Mary's for a Saints side who had lost ground over the previous days on the three teams above them, in a promotion fight it is always going to be more about the result than the performance.

The two draws in the past seven days had brought out the murmurings on social media again on social media about Saints promotion credentials, we lack a goalscorer some said, despite the fact that in Adam Armstrong we have the second highest scorer in the league, we can't defend others say, despite the fact that in the 13 games undefeated up to this game we are just about the best defence in the division.

So this was going to be a pivotal moment in the season, had Russell Martin's luck run out and would he be exposed as not having a plan B.

But before we kicked off there was the little matter of Ipswich V Norwich, would we be playing catch up or would we have an opportunity to close the gap ?

The answer was the latter and the hope was that this would act as a boost for the team.

The team news from St Mary's was not a surprise, what was though was the way it lines up, JWP switched to left back and James Bree on the right, also we appeared to be playing without a centre forward, Adam Armstrong & Sam Edozie clearly playing wide, with Joe Aribo seemingly playing a very deep central role.

Saints dominated the first half in terms of possession, but it was perhaps the visitors who had the best chance of the early first half exchanges with Gavin Bazunu doing well to stop a freekick which came through the wall and he would have seen late and making it a double stop as he blocked the follow up, this would be 50% of Rovers shots on target in the space of 3 seconds.

Saints did have a lot of the ball going forward, but we seemed to have little impact in the box, Sam Edozie and Adam Armstrong worked hard down the wings but had little to hit in the box.

We did have our moments and the crowd howled in disbelief as Adam Armstrong appeared to have been hauled down only yards from the ref.

However things changed just as Blackburn thought they were going in level at the break, James Bree in his new employment of taking corners on the left got in a decent effort and Sam Edozie put the ball in the net in front of the keeper with his knee, it settled the nerves going in at half time.

The second half started in the same way the first had finished with Saints in complete control, but then came a moment of madness, Saints won a foul, the referee blew, but in frustration Brittain launched the ball up field, you can get away with a lot with referee's, but one thing they can spot is kicking the ball away after the whistle is blown, it was a yellow card and Brittain suddenly remembered he had already been booked when the ref brandished the red.

It didn't take long for Saints to then double their lead, Flynn Downes made a good run into the box and as he went down and the ball went free, Stuart Armstrong swept home, to ease the nerves.

So with 64 minutes gone, the opposition down to 10 men and now the team finding it's form surely we would now crush Blackburn.

No what we did was take the impetus away from our own side, a minute later we make a triple change, off goes Flynn Downes the man we missed so much in the previous two games and implicit in the second goal, off goes Sam Edozie having a good game and buoyed by scoring the opening goal and perhaps even more bizarrely taking off Taylor Harwood- Bellis purely to give Jack Stephens a game.

I'm sorry Russell but you got it wrong here, we needed to work on getting the goal difference down, here we are in complete control against 10 men and with the opportunity to score a few and you take off arguably our two best players of the first 65 minutes and also an unneeded defensive change.

This meant we lost impetus and Blackburn even had a few promising forages into our half.

On 76 minutes in was a double change, off eventual man of the match Stuart Armstrong and top scorer Adam Armstrong, on came Charley Alcatraz & Sekoe Mara,.

Now I can understand about giving people a game, but truth is this should not have been the priority, turning the screw and improving our goal difference, something that could be crucial at the end of the season should have been the priority, we would not have take our foot off the gas so early in the second half.

In the end Blackburn ran out of steam, even though Charley Alcatraz missed a penalty in shocking fashion, it was good to see Sekou Mara open his account for the season and indeed Alcaraz redeem himself blasting home the rebound as the keeper failed to hold a shot to make it 4-0.

That made the scoreline something of a dichotomy, on one hand some would say it flattered us given two goals in the final two minutes of injury time, but on the other hand it was more than a true reflection of our dominance and to be blunt we could have and should have scored a lot more, 6-0 would not have been unfair.

But it is what it is, as I said at the start it was about the result not the performance and come 5pm the news from Leeds was good, Coventry had got a draw meaning we had drawn level with Leeds, but not above them as we were still even after a 4-0 win 7 goals worse off, perhaps highlighting why we need to take every opportunity to pick up a goal or two when we can.

So overall a good day for Saints, we won and won well, we gained two points on both Ipswich & Leeds and hopefully we convinced a few of the doubters that we have staying power.

14 games unbeaten in the Championship is a feat that should not be looked at lightly, Nigel Adkins never got near that figure in 2011/12's promotion season, Lawrie McMenemy neither in 1977/78, even Ted Bates in the run it to promotion from the then Division 2 in 1965/66 could only manage 12 games unbeaten.

So Russell Martin has achieved something at this club that the previous three managers who have won promotion to the top flight did not manage and that should perhaps give food for thought to some.

This season is going to be a war of attrition, we are chasing that 2 point a game average that will give us 92 points, this might not be enough in this strange Championship season, but we just have to set a reasonable target and keep going.

Last 3 games a little short 5 points = 1.66 per game, last 6 games 12 points = 2 points per game, spot on.

In conclusion the one thing that we have is that we have the ability to spread the goals around, in Adam Armstrong we have an out and out goalscorer, but although we have no one near him in his 12 scored so far, we have a few who are capable of getting into double figures.

I also expect a surprise signing in January up front.

Photo: Action Images

JoeEgg added 11:43 - Dec 17 "In conclusion the one thing that we have is that we have the ability to spread the goals around" Probably the only comment (above) from Nick that I find hard to agree with - unless he means all bar Adam Armstrong will eventually score one goal each! True we scored four today and spread them around, but in recent games when Adam Armstrong was off colour, he received very little support. We are a team that in general does NOT take their chances, and against Blackburn we left it late to assert our domination, and only then when Blackburn were down to 10 men and a very young Blackburn side tired badly. If we can consistently convert the 70% plus possession into goals - this will be the time to celebrate the way the Manager has chosen to play. I really enjoyed our high press yesterday which never allowed Blackburn any respite. With Bree and Downes back in the side, and Aribo encouraged to provide some much needed creativity from midfield, we looked a much much better side. So its been a great run for the Saints and its fairly obvious by now that there are four teams in the Championship - Leicester, Ipswich, Leeds and Saints- that are clearly in a class of their own!

4

Block8 added 11:50 - Dec 17 A good result and better game to watch with more of a front foot performance, Blackburn having at times a six man defence but unlike Coventry not four defensive midfielders. Downes had another good game and perhaps went off purely based on fitness after his illness. He seems to give Smallbone more freedom to push on, which improves our attacking options. Bree looks comfortable on either side of the defence as does KWP. I personally wanted to see Mara get a run out and his goal should help his confidence. And yes we do need goals but we have a lot of games in a short space of time so giving players a rest during a game helps avoid injuries due to tiredness.

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HythePeer added 11:57 - Dec 17 Oh no! JWP is back!?!
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kingolaf added 12:31 - Dec 17 Sounds like Ings is coming back, based on what I heard at the game.
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Centurion added 14:00 - Dec 17 A good win after two tough away games. We are looking good for the play offs which would be a great achievement.
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SaintPaulVW added 14:01 - Dec 17 One of our key advantages over most other Championship teams is our squad size. I think it's important to both rest players and give other players game time. This ensures that if injuries happen, ready replacements are match fit and the team on the pitch is familiar with one another. So happy that Stevens came on. I also think it's obvious that Che wants to move so giving Mara a good run is a must. Really can't understand the obsession with Ings. One great season and 2 seasons half of which were injury blighted. Then took the money, which was fair enough but he moved on, so why can't we?

8

Bowlercow added 16:23 - Dec 17 We looked like a team who are confidently playing a system that the coach is asking for Comfortable on the ball and secure off it We looked good even against 11 men who appeared to be set up to defend and perhaps get something on a breakaway In the past we have had difficulty breaking down teams who do that but we absolutely dominated the game yesterday The next 3 games are all against teams in the bottom third and will hopefully provide more chances to improve our goal difference

5

IanRC added 17:06 - Dec 17 Would be really sorry to see Harwood-Bellis sacrificed for a Jack Sephens return, particularly if that affected his decision to return to City. Hope HB continues to start. Thought Stuart Armstrong was superb and Sam Edozie had his best game to date. SA was probably taken off to protect him in view of all the upcoming fixtures though I agree we need to work on our goal difference. Please not Ings though. Don't think bringing on Charlie is ever a defensive ploy, thought he was excellent, except of course for that penalty. Was praying Mara would score and hopefully now he can push on.

4

Number_58 added 20:31 - Dec 17 Nick's obviously delighted to see Jack back.
0

landsdownsaint added 21:21 - Dec 17 When it goes right it’s magnificent football as we saw yesterday, we got so much talent out there & they’re gonna get better & better , no ings & hope KWP stays .
2

aceofthebase added 21:56 - Dec 17 Aribo has had a vast improvement. He now looks like a tough guy, and very difficult to prise the ball from. I think his confidence has improved, I wish he would take on a few more runs towards the goal, his skills produce results. It's like we have signed a new player!
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Saidou added 23:20 - Dec 17 We should be targeting promotion via a top 2 finish. I don’t think we have the grit to win promotion from the playoffs. I’m sorry Nick, but I just don’t believe we that bite in us.
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davenbennett added 09:22 - Dec 18 Ings left after reject⁶ing £100k per week to take £125k pw. Even if WHU pay half his wages, its still a lot. He has only played 1/3 of possible games in last 3 years. I like Ings, but he's another sickness. Already got 1 in Stewart.
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highfield49 added 12:14 - Dec 18 I wasn't at the match but, from the highlights, it appears as though the team was playing with confidence and looked comfortable winners against fairly uninspiring opponents. I can't help thinking that some of the more negative supporters should think themselves lucky that they don't follow the likes of Blackburn. As for the substitutions, the fact that we added goals to the scoreline and didn't appear to pick up any injuries must be a positive. Regarding Jack Stephens, for me it made perfect sense to give him game time because he will almost certainly need to play at some point in the remaining matches. Pairing him with Bednarek was the right thing to do because they've played together more frequently and were less likely to have misunderstandings had Blackburn managed to create any attacking momentum. The fact is THB is still a loan player who may or may not make the move south permanent and Stephens, for all his limitations, can still do a job when required. Ryan Fraser and Jo Aribo certainly deserve game time and Flynn Downes might well be able to get the best from Danny Ings should the loan rumours have any substance.

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Dunstable_Saint added 12:19 - Dec 18 I thought this was a top performance from saints. Blackburn will come and have a go was the indication, they will go for the win… that never looked likely from minute one we pressed and push forward all the time. I would love to see the average positioning of our two center backs.. I reckon the majority would have been in the Blackburn half. Sometimes fans are just never happy. Sure the goals came late but we had 22 shots and 15 corners I think… complete domination. Let’s enjoy the good quality football as it’s been a while since we have seen that at st Mary’s! Finally flynn got subbed because he missed the last two games and had a yellow card. Makes sense to use the squad when you are comfortable in a game. Plus Fraser and Mara in particular had a great impact. Keep this unbeaten run going and the teams above will feel the pressure.

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halftimeorange added 16:49 - Dec 18 For once we really looked convincing winners even when our account only showed two goals and numerous near misses. Aribo certainly looks like the player I thought we had signed. Something has changed with him and the interplay between him, KWP and Sam Edozie looked very promising. I, too, thought some of the substitutions were unnecessarily early when we were in total charge but, probably good for team spirit. I'm pleased to see Bree back on the pitch. He adds a stability missing when he's absent.

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