Crouch rises to occasion for the Saints

SOUTHAMPTON assistant boss Jim Smith was delighted at the way his side climbed out of the bottom three with a deserved victory against Middlesbrough.

The Saints gave their Premiership survival hopes a boost after two goals from Peter Crouch and an Andreas Jakobsson strike helped them on their way to a 3-1 win at the Riverside.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had cancelled out Jakobsson's opener but Crouch's superbly-taken goals handed the Saints their first away league win of the season and condemned Boro to another poor post-European performance.

"It was massive, massively important to our football club," Smith said. "We have got Chelsea coming up and this was a vital three points today. We felt it would be a defining weekend. On the planning front, we have ourselves in front of our target today.

"The lads now know we can get out of the bottom three. It is a big win. We are finally out of the bottom three."

If Southampton's win came courtesy of a fine team performance, it was the quality of their finishing, and particularly that of Crouch, which proved the difference.

The tall striker has had his critics, but led the line superbly and took his goals his 12th and 13th of the season with some style.

"He has come out today and I thought he was magnificent," said Smith. "His two finishes were brilliant. His first was fantastic and his second, his volley, was brilliant. And he can get a few more this season. That is 13 already. People believe in him now and he will go on from that."

Smith also declined to comment on claims former England rugby union coach Sir Clive Woodward is to join the club's academy.

If Smith and Saints boss Harry Redknapp left the Riverside Stadium with smiles on their faces, Boro manager Steve McClaren and his players were devastated.

The Teessiders have now won only once in 11 attempts on a Sunday this season and have not yet tasted victory in the league game immediately after a UEFA Cup fixture, the latest Thursday's 1-0 defeat at Sporting Lisbon.

"It is very disappointing, very disappointing for myself, the staff, the players, because as much as we were heroic on Thursday in a magnificent performance, we could not rise to that standard again," McClaren said.

Boro now have a two-week break before heading for Crystal Palace and McClaren will hope the break, as well as the return of some of his injured players, will spark a recovery.

"The next two weeks are vital for the last eight games," he said. "The likes of (Gareth) Southgate and (Bolo) Zenden and (Jimmy Floyd) Hasselbaink, Doriva, (Chris) Riggott, (Franck) Queudrue, (Stewart) Downing, players who we would like to give a rest to, we have been unable to do that.

"We have sent them away for a week to get refreshed, and we will say to the others, the likes of (Michael) Reiziger and (George) Boateng, (Ugo) Ehiogu, (Ray) Parlour, (Mark) Viduka, those five we want back for the Crystal Palace game. If we have got that, we have got fresh players, we have got injured players coming back and we have still got eight games to go."

MIDDLESBROUGH: Schwarzer, Parnaby (Reiziger 68), Riggott, Southgate, Queudrue, Nemeth (Graham 68), Doriva, Zenden, Downing, Job, Hasselbaink.

SOUTHAMPTON: Niemi, Delap, Jakobsson, Lundekvam, Bernard, Telfer, Redknapp, Quashie, Le Saux (Anders Svensson 80), Camara (Phillips 69), Crouch.

Referee: U Rennie (S Yorkshire).