Agustin Delgado yesterday made his first appearance in a Saints first team shirt since January and was greeted by cheers.

With 11 minutes of the game remaining came the moment many Saints fans thought they would never see - the £3.2m Ecuadorian striker running out at St Mary's once again to replace Brett Ormerod.

The striker's 11 months at the club have been riddled by injury and controversy.

But he started on the bench after scoring twice against Millwall Reserves in a behind-closed-doors friendly last Wednesday.

Delgado was given a rapturous welcome by the home fans, desperate to catch another glimpse of the man who had only managed two first-team starts since joining last November.

He showed some good flashes and looked lively, including chesting a ball back on to the right foot of hat-trick hero James Beattie, a lovely lobbed pass on the edge of his own area and a shot with the outside of his right boot which Edwin Van Der Sar had to scurry across his goal to catch.

The latter brought a chant of 'Tino, Tino,' form the Saints faithful.

Boss Gordon Strachan simply said: "He showed some beautiful touches and looked very good. Life seems bright at the moment."