At last, a win over Southampton.

For the first time in 28 years, Wolves beat the Saints. But didn't they make hard work of it?

When David Jones poked home the second goal after just 17 minutes, it honestly looked as though we would avenge the six-goal defeat by Southampton in Super Mick's first season - and possibly even eclipse it.

Wolves, top of the table, supremely confident and on a run of four straight wins, against a Southampton side looking every bit a cash-strapped club flirting with the threat of a season-long battle to avoid the ignominy of relegation to League One.

But the wait for the fourth minute of stoppage time to elapse at the end of the game was a fraught one for 3,000 Wolves fans who'd made the hike to Hampshire.

How could a team that played for at least 50 minutes with 10 men manage to stretch a team that remains six points clear at the top, and 13 points clear of the club just outside the play-off zone?

Maybe it was the perceived injustice of Jason Euell's red card that spurred Southampton on, but make no mistake, Wolves were on the back foot for a fair portion of the second half. And it was uncomfortable viewing.

It was an afternoon that Sylvan Ebanks-Blake will possibly mark down as one of his quietest Wolves games.

But it was also an afternoon when Wolves provided graphic evidence that we're not a team of stars. We're a team - and that's infinitely more important.

Instead of highlighting the subdued afternoon for Ebanks-Blake, greater emphasis should be placed on the performance of the back five.

One Carl Ikeme first half save was sensational, England new boy Michael Mancienne gave further notice of his immense talent and Richard Stearman is a rock.

But the performance highlights for me were on the defensive flanks with Kevin Foley, as always, and the undoubted man of the match, Stephen Ward.

Foley's value has rocketed, and so has the appreciation of Wolves fans for a player who's nearly always worth an eight of 10 - and certainly never anything less than a seven.

While Ward, the Irish striker-turned-left back, tells you everything you need to know about why Wolves are top of the league.

Gritty, determined, honest, reliable, impressive - all admirable adjectives that apply to the boy from Bohemians and the team he now plays for.

At St Mary's he was strong in both the tackle and the air, and linked up athletically and purposefully with an improving Carlos Edwards, the creator of both goals.

Wolves are top because we are showing we can win at places like Southampton without our best players in full flight.

That's because of players like Ward, who Super Mick believes have come to signify the whole fabric of the club.

Remember the trouncings at Swansea and Norwich? Well this Wolves team has taken it squarely on the chin, and subsequently reeled off five successive league wins.

We're the first club in England or Scotland to hit the 40-point mark, and the 39 goals we've scored are more than any club north or south of the border.

Did anyone mention, it's all becoming a touch exciting.