KEVIN PHILLIPS pinpointed Nicolas Anelka's glaring first-half miss as a major turning point in Saints' 3-1 victory.

The Frenchman was played one-on-one with Antti Niemi and looked certain to score after City had looked the more dangerous team in the opening exchanges.

But he side-footed wide and the pressure of missed chances began to weigh heavily on a team desperately needing points to stay up.

Phillips said: "We took heart from the chance Anelka missed. It was a glorious chance and I'm sure he will be disappointed.

"When Anelka missed, you felt the pressure building on them and it was difficult for them.

"We felt it was our chance.

"I sensed the support turn a little bit and not long after that we have gone up the other end and James has scored.

"We felt that if we could pressurise them early on, go ahead early, I've experienced with their supporters that they will turn and it has proved to be."

Although leading at half-time, Phillips revealed Saints did not allow themselves to be satisfied with their performance in the opening 45 minutes.

He said: "Going in 1-0 our team-talk wasn't that we had been excellent, it was a bit of a 'c'mon, let's try and win the second-half' and we did that.

"We knew they had to come out and push in the second-hal.

"We felt if we were solid defensively we would hurt them on the counter-attack and we definitely did for the second goal.

"I was surprised how much space I had, but that is what happens when teams need goals.

"Obviously I'm extremely pleased, not just from my point of view but from a team point of view. It was an excellent performance."

After being relegated with Sunderland last season, Phillips had sympathy for the situation Manchester City are finding themselves in.

"They are desperate for points, they have got quality players so we knew it would be tough," he said. "It surprises me where they are if you look at the players they have got.

"There is obviously something wrong, I experienced it last year and never thought we would be in the situation we were in.

"Once you get into that losing habit it can be hard to get out of.

"They've just got to keep believing and believing. I don't think anyone wants to see them go down when you look at the stadium they have got.

"But it's tough - it's tight at the bottom."

Phillips added that it was particularly satisfying to get Saints' fourth away league win of the season for the travelling fans after the disappointment of the Easter Monday defeat.

He said: "There was a lot of support, credit to them - they were noisier than the home fans.

"It was massively important, it was very disappointing at Middlesbrough, we were all poor, every one of us, and we have got to hold our hands up.

"We definitely learned from it, we worked on the training pitch, we watched City, we came with a plan and it has paid off.

"After Wolves, it was another fantastic away performance."