SAINTS head coach Tonda Eckert believes the slow start against Millwall was his responsibility, as he detailed a tactical tweak to win the game.
Eckert feels his side's thumping 5-1 win against early pace-setters Millwall will have made the rest of the Championship sit up and take notice.
Saints came from behind to pulverise the Lions – who won their first two matches without conceding – after a concerning 20 minutes at St Mary's.
Eckert's side conceded six shots inside the first 15 minutes, nearly half of Millwall's efforts in the entire game, in a particularly vulnerable period.
The German suggested he left too many attackers at the top end of the pitch in an attempt to counterattack, which led to Millwall's opening goal.
"The reality is that these games live off moments," Eckert said. "We decided today to choose an approach that we normally don't do in home games.
READ: Every word Saints manager Eckert said after 5-1 win over Millwall
"Maybe I haven't done the players a favour with that in the first 20 minutes because it took us a bit to get going, but sometimes it's a decision to take.
"You want the highest chance of scoring goals, and against Millwall it's not easy; it's such a compact, physical team. He's one of the best managers.
"With the way he sets up his games defensively, we decided to choose an approach that's a bit different to how we normally approach home games.
"We needed 20 minutes to get going, but I think the crowd helped us to come over this period, and from minute 20 onwards I think we played very well."
He added: "There are more and more teams now that bring a lot of players ahead of the ball, and sometimes you need to make a decision.
"How many players do you want to defend, and how many players do you want to leave further up the pitch to then be able to attack bigger spaces?
"I think normally we bring all players down, but today we've had a little different balance in the team, and it hurt us on the first goal.
"Then we found a way to still put a little bit more pressure on; it's been a different role for our offensive players in a way that we wanted to press.
"I think from minute 20 the game was very good in most moments."
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