RUSSELL Martin was pleased with how his side controlled the final stages of their 1-2 opening day win against Sheffield Wednesday.

Substitute Che Adams scored a late 87th-minute winner before the fourth official signalled for nine minutes of additional time.

Wednesday struggled to wrestle the ball back as Saints' total number of passes attempted ticked towards the 1000 mark.

Martin was pleased with the way his side killed the game by retaining possession of the ball.

He said: "The way they managed the last nine minutes was incredibly brave.

"It’s not easy, it takes courage and great detail to play like that and make it look simpler than it is.

"To have the discipline, structure and understanding to manage that is fantastic.

"They are all really top professionals and they’ve done what we asked them to do tonight, under big pressure with it being the first game of the season at Hillsborough.

He continued: "It gives us loads to build on. To do what we did in the first game and to come back from a setback as well, conceding from a set piece, which I’m really frustrated about.

"They’ve had one shot on target and scored, but we have loads to grow and improve."

Having dominated possession against the recently promoted side Saints had to show their character when Gregory brought Wednesday level 10 minutes into the second half.

“We spoke to them about if we had a setback and how to manage that," the former Scotland international added. 

"The way the players really got control quickly after was brilliant. There was definitely a moment in the game where it could have gone either way.

"However, there were some actions that really helped us and we are really going to need that going forward because not every game will go our way."

As Martin alluded to, there was a period after the hosts' equaliser where it looked as though the pendulum of momentum has swung in their favour. 

When asked how he would have felt had Saints’ dominating performance resulted in a draw, he said: “I would have been frustrated. 

“I would have been pleased with the performance but frustrated for the supporters who travelled and for the players.

'I’m really pleased that we won and I thought we deserved to. I would have been really frustrated and angry about not winning.”