Saints got back to winning ways, but Coventry didn't make it easy and the result was in doubt right up to the final whistle, but the main thing was that we got it done and in doing so just about cemented our play off place.
All eyes were on the team news from St Mary's at 6.45pm on Tuesday evening and as suspected one name was in the team and the victim this time was Jan Bednarek who despite being one of our most consistent defenders this season found himself on the bench, with Jack Stephens stepping into the centre and James Bree returning to the side after his suspension.
There was no place for Stuart Armstrong returning from a concussion though. as Russell Martin once again tweaked the side.
Saints started well and you could see that there was a steely attitude in the side that was missing at Blackburn, there was also a more solid look to the formation.
To get the main talking point of the pre match out of the way early, Jack Stephens playing in his natural position as a central defender can do a job and for the most part of this game he did just that, but the question still remains that Jan Bednarek is a better player.
After that good start we suddenly shot ourself in the foot, I don't have a problem with the possession football game, what I do have a problem with though is the way we sometimes employ it, we seem to have to keep passing even when there is nothing on and that is sometimes our downfall.
When we get goal kicks and free kicks in and around our box, we take the kick short and too quickly and we are shut down just as fast , the number of times I saw the ball passed to someone who has no pass on when he receives it was far too numerous to keep count.
That was the case for the first major incident of the game when the visitors were awarded a penalty, a long straight pass from the back to David Brooks was not really on but we played it and under pressure the Bournemouth loanee could not control it and Coventry countered quickly.
Their man went down in the box and watching it on TV later my opinion in real time at the stadium wasn't changed, it was never a penalty.
Most fans celebrated the miss, but in doing so didn't see why the referee had given a free kick, the initial worry was that there was encroachment and the kick had to be retaken, but the real reason was that Haji Wright had slipped as he went to kick the ball and had played it twice.
This let off gave Saints new impetus and on 18 minutes Kyle Walker Peters got the ball and went on a mazy run that ended with a 30 yard shot that seemed to take a deflection off Che Adams, certainly the striker ran off to the crowd and appeared to be claiming the goal, but KWP is the man it is credited to.
This gave us the impetus and we took control and you wondered just how Coventry were on the fringes of the play offs, that was exemplified on 38 minutes when Che Adams did get a goal, forcing the ball over the line from close range as it bobbled around.
In the second half the game followed a similar pattern to the end of the first, we were playing a fast passing game once we got through the slow build up from the back and we really should have scored a third, coming close on several occasions.
But the warning signs were there, our midfield were working hard and starting to tire and at the back we persisted with playing ourselves into tight positions, the key to possession football is to know when to put your foot through the ball, but Coventry sensed we were not going to do that and we kept passing, even when the pass was never really on.
Our first change came on 65 minutes, but it was fresh legs up front and not in midfield and shortly after we paid the price, watching from the stands you could see exactly where the move was going, James Bree had tucked into the centre and that left acres of room on our right side, in many respects the goal itself, although not the finish was similar to the first goal at Ipswich, a switch of play leaving a man steaming in completely unmarked at the back post, this one was far closer in through.
I don't blame Bree for this he is playing to orders, but no one is organising from the centre of our defence, someone has to be aware of what is going on around and push the full backs out when needed.
There was no excuse for leaving the man at the far post, it showed a total lack of vision and organisation.
Now we were suddenly facing a team with their tails up and still 22 minutes on the clock, it was not looking good.
Yet we continued to pursue a suicidal strategy at the back, where was a leader calming things down, slowing things down and organising, every goal kick or free kick in and around our penalty area saw it taken straight away, there was no thought as to whether the man being passed to had an outlet, it was just take the free kick within seconds.
I can understand this is the idea is to get it forward quick to catch the opposition on the back foot, but on virtually every occasion the result was the same, the recipient found himself with no forward option and we were pushed back with Coventry looking for a misplaced pass.
At one stage we were pinned back in our own penalty area for 5 minutes, each time we got the ball we played ourselves back into trouble quickly, there was no respite.
Substitutions were therefore going to be crucial, the first however was strange Sekou Mara on for the hard working Adam Armstrong, this seems to happen a lot lately and I cannot see why, why would you take off your top scorer and hardest worker when you most need him ?
But we hung on in there as several of our midfielders found something deep down to keep running, but we it was strange we didn't make a defensive substitution until the 83rd minute and only as Coventry themselves threw on their last 3 subs.
Joe Aribo was immense throughout the game, surging forward with the ball when attacking and winning it when we were defending.
Off went Will Smallbone, Che Adams and perhaps strangely the man of the match Joe Aribo and on came Shea Charles Joe Rothwell and Stuart Armstrong in midfield and this paid dividends.
Although Coventry were still trying to pour forward, now we had fresh legs and we could counter and the feared late onslaught from the visitors was not allowed to emerge.
So a good win for Saints, not only did it complete the first step, 7th placed Coventry & Preston are both 15 points behind with just 5 games to play, they can only now overtake us if we lose everyone of our last 6 games and to be blunt Preston 25 goals behind us have no hope. Coventry have little.
This win leaves us 9 points behind Leeds in second place with 2 games in hand, after they drew with Sunderland and Leicester lost at Millwall although Ipswich could leapfrog them if they beat Watford tonight.
This shows just how much the previous 3 games to this one have cost us, hold on against Boro and Ipswich to earn a win and a draw and we would now very much be in the mix, but at the moment automatic promotion is just pie in the sky and I feel that come the end of the season we will look back on those two Easter games as the point we blew automatic promotion.
But we just have to keep going and see where we get to, winning the next 6 games will be tough, but we have to aim to do so, if a top two place is not possible, then we have to try and hit 3rd to give us a better advantage in the play offs, this season is far from over.
I have been critical of Russell Martin in the past few weeks and I am still not sure about his stubbornness to play a certain player and indeed to employ possession football to the maximum even when a pass isn't on.
But what I hope is that we have the biggest and best squad in the top 8 teams who are still in with a play off chance, I would hope that whatever our tactics when we play the big games in the play offs, that quality will shine through and adrenalin kick in, last night we showed that we had players who could dig in and fight when needed.
Last night we won not because of our tactics, but because we had better players who come the end of the day showed they had what it takes.