PETER CROUCH fired Saints out of the drop zone for the first time since November - and pledged: "We'll be fine."

The big hitman continued his awesome form with a second half double against Middlesbrough at The Riverside yesterday in the space of just six minutes.

His two superb goals - one with his head and one with his right foot - helped Saints triumph 3-1 and came in front of the handful of travelling fans which included Crouch's dad. Crouch - who has now bagged 10 goals in his last 13 matches to take his seasonal tally to 13 - said: "It was a great win and we felt confident going into the game. The manager said they'd had a hard game in midweek and it was a good time to play Middlesbrough. But we still had to be on top of our game and we were.

"To get both the goals at the Saints end was great and I could spot my dad jumping all over the place and that was a great feeling."

The victory was Saints' first away league win of the season and doubled their points tally on the road to six.

"Take Man United out of the equation and the way we were playing that was coming," Crouch continued. "Away from home it was always going to come and towards the end of the season you're going to see a lot more."

He added: "It's a massive boost for us because once you're in that bottom three you always think 'are we going to get out of it?'

"We have managed to do that and there's no doubt in my mind that if we carry on performing like that we'll get out of trouble. People above us will be looking over their shoulders and the more teams down there the better."