Southampton manager Nigel Adkins insists his side's 3-0 victory against Watford proves they have the grit and guile to win promotion to the Premier League.
The Saints returned to the top of the Championship on Saturday as Rickie Lambert's hat-trick at Vicarage Road lifted them one point clear of second placed West Ham.
With West Ham held by Crystal Palace earlier on Saturday, the pressure was on Southampton to take advantage and Adkins took great heart from the way his players coped with a tricky pitch to subdue hard-working opponents.
"We've come away from home knowing the pitch was going to be lively, against a very spirited Watford side," Adkins said.
"And for me the very pleasing side of it is we've done the horrible things that you've got to do in football and we've done them very well.
"Everybody knows we can play good passing football but we've come away and grafted and ground out a very good result."
Sam Allardyce admitted his West Ham players were unhappy at being booed off following their frustrating 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace at Upton Park.
"As a manager you have to take it but one or two of the players in the dressing room were a little disappointed to get booed because we are at the top of the league," Allardyce said.
"You build up the expectation as we have done recently having done so well, and we didn't deliver.
"But the fans have to stay with us and have to be patient, and then we'll all benefit in the end."
Reading boss Brian McDermott refused to start dreaming of promotion after his side's impressive 2-0 win at Middlesbrough.
Noel Hunt bundled home from a first-half corner before Ian Harte sealed victory with a second half free-kick.
Reading have now gone 473 minutes without conceding a goal in the Championship but McDermott -- whose side lost the play-off final against Swansea last season -- isn't getting carried away.
"We are up to third now but we aren't getting carried away," he said.
"After six games we were bottom of the league and we didn't get carried away about that too much either. There's still a long way to go yet."
Leeds manager Neil Warnock claimed Ross McCormack was denied a clear goal as his first match in charge ended in a 0-0 draw at Portsmouth.
McCormack came closest to breaking the deadlock at Fratton Park when his exquisite chip from the left corner of the area after 54 minutes struck the underside of the bar.
The ball appeared to bounce over the line and Robert Snodgrass followed up to head the ball home, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Having watched the incident back after the final whistle, Warnock was convinced McCormack's effort crossed the line.
"McCormack's shot was a metre over the line. It's embarrassing really when you see it. It's not even close," he said.
"Apparently the television pictures here are not so good, but if they want to borrow ours, they'll see it's not even close."
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest ended Birmingham's 15-match unbeaten home record with a 2-1 win, Brighton beat Ipswich 3-0, Blackpool boosted their play-off bid with a 3-1 win at Bristol City and Millwall won 3-1 at Burnley.
Struggling Coventry enjoyed a crucial 1-0 win over Barnsley and Doncaster drew 1-1 with Peterborough.
Source: AFP
