Russell Martin was glad Southampton “released the tension” by beating Coventry 2-1 to end a three-game winless run.
Saints’ automatic promotion dreams all but went up in smoke after draws against Middlesbrough and Blackburn sandwiched a last-gasp defeat to rivals Ipswich – leaving them nine points adrift of the top two.
Che Adams netted twice to see them past Coventry and restart the momentum towards a likely play-off finale to the season.
Saints boss Martin said: “That will release a lot of tension. First half we played so well, it was the opposite of Saturday [against Blackburn].
“There was some brilliant football and we should maybe have scored another goal as we created a lot.
“I should have changed things a bit earlier when players were getting tired but conceding in that moment was a bit disappointing – and Stu Armstrong apologised for not being where he needed to be.
“We should kill the game off and there was a bit of tension, but we showed resilience and character and I’m proud of the boys.
“It was a big response. I said to them that I didn’t want to get questioned about the mentality of the group, I think they showed spirit and character in abundance tonight.”
Adams is claiming Saints’ opener after the Scotland international got in the way of Kyle Walker-Peters’ 25-yard effort to divert past Bradley Collins.
There was no doubt about the identity of the second, Adams bundling home a corner.
Coventry defender Jake Bidwell calmly slotted in his first goal since January 2023 to set up a nervy ending for the home side but the Sky Blues will bemoan Haji Wright’s 10th-minute penalty miss after the forward slipped as he attempted to convert.
Mark Robins said: “It would it have been a different story had he not slipped for the penalty, but it wouldn’t have been a different story in the first half as we didn’t compete. We didn’t arrive until half-time.
“[Wright’s] absolutely fine. He’s there to take a penalty and he’s a really good penalty taker. It is just unfortunate that he had a slip.
“We needed to decide whether we want to be challengers tonight, and first half we decided we weren’t going to be.
“The penalty miss obviously has an impact. If we score that then the crowd is edgy and that would have given us a foothold.
“We didn’t lay a glove on them for the other 45 minutes. That is what cost us the game.
“There was enough in the second half but in the first half we shot ourselves in the foot.
“It isn’t about anyone else, it is just about us and our results. We can’t look at anyone else, we can’t do anything about it. But what we can do is not play how we did in the first half.”