IT must be Lugg. If one month ago someone had said Rory Delap would end his two-year goal drought with an overhead-kick you might have thought they were somewhat eccentric.

If the same person had then suggested that seven days later, Claus Lundekvam would score his first-ever Saints goal - on his 296th attempt - you would be calling for the men in white coats.

Gordon Strachan once even quipped it would be more effective to have a dead person lurking in the penalty area!

One of the above actually happening could have been dismissed as coincidence.

But both, within the space of a week and within a month of the arrival of the new manager, suggests something more.

It clearly points to the fact that Paul Sturrock is already having an effect on the training ground.

There is no doubt Strachan tried hard to entice more goals from every member of his team.

But new methods and just a new voice giving them some stick seems to have provided fresh impetus.

Work rate and fitness is what has characterised Saints' successes of recent seasons, but it is possible that focussing so hard on these qualities occasionally blunted parts of the team.

The concern of the new manager seemed to be that stopping the opposition doing something, rather than achieving something yourself, might have sneaked into the psyche.

And that not losing games might have become more important than winning them.

This all came to a head with the display at Pompey in Sturrock's first away game and a new lease of momentum seems to have been injected into the team.

A good midfield blend was obviously the critical need and the new manager seems to have found it.

The key has been Yoann Folly.

He might not produce outrageous passes or breathtaking pieces of skill, but what he does do is work incredibly hard in front of the back four.

That does two things. First, it breaks up the opposition attacks but, more importantly, it gives more freedom to his own midfield.

Rory Delap and Fabrice Fernandes have been the main beneficiaries.

The Irishman again caused problems going forward on Saturday and his nuisance value led to James Beattie's opener.

But Saints' chief creator aside from the consistently outstanding Kevin Phillips was Frenchman Fernandes.

For the second week running, he provided a real threat going forward by the way he brought others into the game with his vision on the ball.

The current midfield blend works but, leaving aside the inept Wolves defence, Saturday also showed the benefit of stability.

The players have contributed to this difficulty by their inconsistency, but the lack of a settled line-up has hurt Saints this season.

A settled team provides a sense of confidence and certainty that has not always been evident during what has been a disjointed, if still very decent, campaign.

Injury to Jason Dodd (and we can only hope Henri Camara's horrific tackle has not done the damage we all fear) looks likely to again mean another change, but they are unlikely to be wide-ranging.

Seven games remain and Saints are still within four points of European football - that long-standing aim which somehow seemed so distant two weeks ago.

Whether they now realise it will obviously depend on other teams, but a more tangible target is at least 11 points from the remaining seven matches.

Saints' most in a Premier League season is 52 - and last year that tally provided a best-ever finish of eighth.

They now have 42, so 53 or more would represent a real, and realistic, achievement.

Most importantly, despite such wonderful times last season, it would also show the club can continue that upward cycle of recent years.