It was a satisfying win at Brighton on Monday evening, not just because it was our first Monday night win on TV for 18 years, but because although we didn't play well we still ground out the result, but now we need to start getting back to winning well.

No one can argue with the dogged way Saints dug in and beat the Seagulls on their home patch, but the truth was that we did not play well and haven't done for the last 3 games, at Wolves the signs were there and against Manchester United they reared their ugly heads again, we hoped that they were merely the result of playing better teams, but at Brighton the signs were still there.

Too many players were having off games, there were too many enforced errors and we are suddenly getting a little too cocky and not doing the basics and therefore getting caught on the ball too often.

The good news is these are errors that can be smoothed out on the training ground, so we should be able to get back to winning with not only more ruthlessness but more style.

But on Brighton there was barely a player who didn't get caught on the ball or make an unforced error, even the usually reliable James Ward Prowse and Oriol Romeu although the best of a bad bunch, were guilty of getting caught out.

We now come to a couple of games that are very winnable and if we do so then we could go into the New Year in a very good position, but none of them are easy and starting against Sheffield United we need to get that discipline back into the team.

We are taking too many risks of late in our own back third of the field and teams are getting wise to how we play and are starting to counter it, that was the case at the Amex, Brighton pressed us and although they didn't do so with any great success, occasionally they got a bit too close and either won the ball or hurried us into a poor pass.

Sheffield United arrive on Sunday with the worst start in Premier League history in terms of results, but they are not being beaten by big margins, in 11 games they have conceded only 18 goals, that is only 1 more than us, Manchester United & Liverpool, there problem is scoring goals.

They rely on defending in depth and getting forward quickly, teams have sussed them out now, but if we are not careful we could gift them their 2nd point of the season or even worse their 3rd & 4th as well.

Make no bones about it we were off form against Brighton and it wasn't one player getting caught it was the entire team switching off at one time or another.

Ralph has to get a grip of this and I'm sure he will, if he does then we could perceivably welcome Liverpool on January 2nd with them still in sight and that would be something.

But sorry to press the point, if we keep making these little errors games such as the Manchester United one will become more the norm that the great wins we have achieved this season.

Brighton missed chances that they should not have been given, yes so did we, but luck plays a big part in these things and we have had more than our fair share so far this season, we can't keep relying on it.

So let's get back to winning well, it is good to see that we can win ugly when we need to, there will be plenty of times we will have to do that I'm sure, so let's not make it more times than we need to as we did on Monday evening.

Photo: Action Images

PaleRider added 10:12 - Dec 8 Nick, I have been enjoying your posts much more again recently. They are more balanced and even when I don't agree with the odd point I think they are much more representative of how many of us feel. I also strongly agree with the poster on another thread who said why it's fun supporting Saints - we have to take the good and the bad but to be winning when not playing well is really encouraging. COYS

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stmichael added 12:15 - Dec 8 I do get a bit nervous but we play a brave high risk style that requires our players to be comfortable on the ball and to take risks. Sometimes they need to be more calculated than others and we will concede because of it. I certainly don't want us to go back to sideways , backwards passing and cautious football. We won yesterday because our ball playing centre back played a defence splitting pass to a marauding full back who won a penalty. Its how we play and I love it..

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d_ember added 12:18 - Dec 8 Some encouraging signs and some for concern also - we are still within sniffing distance of the league leaders after 11 games that is a huge bonus. We now have a silly number of games between now and the end of February and it is important to maintain momentum. If we can exit that period still in touch with the Euro spots as the big boys return to European competition who knows what we could get this year. A couple of players out of form in Armstrong and Bednerak, with Djenepo struggling to find his balance in the Premier League. With the squad fully fit and the Invisible Man now making an appearance on the bench we are better set I feel to change things around to give players a break.

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Scrappy2020 added 15:39 - Dec 8 I thought Vestergaard was by far the best of a bad bunch even apart from his goal,probably the best I have seen him play,his forward passing was very accurate including his pass to Kwp for the penalty incident.McCarthy had another solid game,why someone posted Forster may be near a recall is beyond me.yes Mcarthy makes a mistake now and then but he is much improved over last season and makes important saves at critical times such as his save against Newcastle near the end.What concerned me last night was the space we gave them after we lost the ball in midfield especially in the first half,maybe our wing backs are pushing up too early and then getting stranded?

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halftimeorange added 16:36 - Dec 8 My impression from last night was that the players were instructed not to press as hard as they did in the three previous games during the first period and to keep more in reserve for the second half in order to prevent a turnover a la Man Utd. The outcome of this more relaxed tactic was that we became the oppressed and Brighton's energy caused Saints to make mistakes in hurriedly passing or getting caught with the ball. Conversely, in the second period it was Brighton who faded, particularly towards the end so, the net result was we won, however we got there.

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1962saint added 16:48 - Dec 8 If I was impartial, which I'm not, I would say a draw would have been a fair result. Neither side really did enough to be a clear winner and the penalty decision was as borderline in the extreme. However, thank you VAR for an early Xmas present. I can never understand why players clatter into opponents on the edge of the penalty area when there isn't an obvious danger of a goal. Silly Solly!

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