IT'S hard to know whether to take heart from this performance or be concerned.

They say that the key to being a good team is to be able to win games you probably shouldn't.

If you are serious about getting promoted or winning anything, then there will be times that you will go out and not play well.

Your opponents may deserve a point, even all three, but if you can still snatch a win from that situation then you are in with a chance of doing fairly well.

That was the case at the weekend when Saints hosted struggling Scunthorpe - and that's why it's difficult to decide whether to be pleased or not.

You had to hand it to Scunthorpe, nobody was expecting them to come down and go for Saints from the start.

They got the ball down, passed it nicely and were quite happy to load balls and bodies into the Saints box to test them at every available opportunity.

With the chances they created, there could be no argument that they deserved at least a point.

But they didn't get it.

Saints didn't play well, which was disappointing.

But they won, which was the opposite.

There are clearly problems for George Burley to sort out in the midfield.

The loss of Youssef Safri, potentially for eight matches, was always going to be a blow - but how big a blow was perhaps obvious against Scunthorpe.

Good defensive midfielders are hard to find.

Players able to stay disciplined and concentrate enough to just sit in front of the back four and snuff out danger are a rare breed.

If they can pass the ball and get you playing, then even better.

That's what Safri does for Saints in a fairly efficient and consistent way.

He is the fulcrum around which the midfield operates.

He links the defence and the attack and with him away with Morocco in the African Cup of Nations, it leaves a big void.

How you fill it is a problem for Burley.

Jason Euell tried to play that role against Scunthorpe and in fairness was disciplined, but the balance wasn't quite right.

It wasn't helped by the fact that Inigo Idiakez on his return to the side didn't look fit enough after two months out.

You wonder if Burley can get Alexander Ostlund back whether Jermaine Wright could fill the Safri position, a role he has played before.

If not, Burley will have to come up with a different blend in the middle of the park while Safri is away because, though they got a win on Saturday, they will have to play better to keep that going.

It was an entertaining game with numerous chances at both ends.

Saints almost conceded direct from the kick off when they gave the ball away and only a good stop from Kelvin Davis kept out Paul Hayes' drive from distance.

Just in the first half, Davis went on to turn Jack Cork's volley from the edge of the area over the bar and produce another two stops from Hayes, one of which also involved the help of the bar after Wayne Thomas could only head a cross back up into his own six-yard box.

Add to that poor misses from Shelton Martis and Martin Paterson and you get the picture.

Saints, though, could have got themselves an early goal with two decent opportunities.

Both Idiakez and Bradley Wright-Phillips got in behind the Scunthorpe defence but both were guilty of missing the target.

However,when a chance was taken it was no surprise it was the most clinical man on the pitch that put it away.

Andrew Surman got away down the left and played a low cross into the six-yard box where Grzegorz Rasiak slid in to tap home.

It was a typical Rasiak goal and a reminder of how he will provide goals if he plays.

Davis was again busy in the second half, making probably his best save of the game four minutes in to just touch Paterson's bottom corner bound effort round the post.

He was also out quickly to stop Jonathan Forte getting a tap in and in injury time tipped Ian Morris' free kick that seemed destined for the top corner over the bar.

Matthew Sparrow came agonisingly close with a shot from 20 yards that did beat Davis but flicked the top of the bar.

That came after Saints' second half bright spot, a run from inside his own half from Adam Hammill that ended with a mishit shot courtesy of a foul.

The referee played advantage but it wasn't that advantageous as when Wright-Phillips turned it home he was offside.

To do well you're not always going to deserve your wins, but you still need to get them.