City boss Peter Grant hailed midfielder Mark Fotheringham for sparking the second-half revival that brought a 2-1 win over Southampton.The 23-year-old Scot replaced Frenchman Julien Brellier at half-time but had to hobble off with an ankle injury eight minutes from time.

City boss Peter Grant hailed midfielder Mark Fotheringham for sparking the second-half revival that brought a 2-1 win over Southampton.

The 23-year-old Scot replaced Frenchman Julien Brellier at half-time but had to hobble off with an ankle injury eight minutes from time.

“We put Fotheringham on and I think that changed the game,” said Grant, who admitted it had been a “tough call” to leave him out of the starting line-up - and that new signings Brellier and Darel Russell, who started the match in central midfield, were still trying to find their feet.

“We've got two central midfield players who are trying to find their legs because they've missed out on a big bit of the pre-season games and you could see that in the first half. I thought we changed it at half-time, we put Fotheringham on, we were taking much more care in possession and I thought we started to dominate then.

“I thought Fotheringham gave us that in the second half, picked up a lot of pockets that Jamie Cureton was going into and gave us a foothold in the game. If you get a foothold in the game and create chances, you've got a guy that can put the ball in the back of the net.

“In the first half, the two guys in there couldn't get their legs going. I felt I had to change it quickly. It was no use waiting any longer. We did that and I think Mark's swung the game for us, keeping possession of the ball, moving the ball quickly from side to side and picking areas to pass the ball forward. In the first half, we kept getting caught in possession time and time again after winning it, and giving possession away cheaply.

“It takes time. There are a lot of them playing together for the first time.”

Fotheringham turned his ankle over in a tussle with Southampton's Andrew Surman, but afterwards said he expected no long-term problem.

“My foot just got left in the tackle and turned over. It feels much better new,” he said.

Grant also praised the home crowd for willing City to victory.

He said: “Great credit to the support. I've been critical before but I thought we weren't playing well at all, and I thought they got right behind them and I could see the players getting a lift from that. I thought they helped us through a really difficult period. I'm not one for praising people lightly but I thought they definitely helped us in a tough, tough period of the game and that just shows you that can move mountains at times. In the second half, I thought that was a big part of getting us the three points.”