Chris Lakey The record books will credit Simon Lappin with the assist for Grant Holt's winner on Saturday - but Andrew Surman believes another 1,192 names should be added to the entry.

Chris Lakey

The record books will credit Simon Lappin with the assist for Grant Holt's winner on Saturday - but Andrew Surman believes another 1,192 names should be added to the entry.

Holt struck in time added right in front of the City fans in Glanford Park's South Stand, sending them into raptures - their excitement replicated on the bench as Paul Lambert and his team celebrated the first win of the season.

It was Surman's first experience of the City fans on the march - and he believes they are equivalent to a 12th man.

“We came in at half-time and said, 'we are going to have the fans pulling us in' and that is exactly what they did,” said the summer signing from Wolves.

“We dominated the second half and I think it was just a matter of time before we scored the goal and the fans have pulled us in and we got one in the last minute.

“It was fantastic, the atmosphere, and we used that to our advantage. At half-time the manager said, 'use the crowd' and that's what we did. They got behind us the whole game, especially second half.

“They were dragging us in and I think we dominated the second half really.

“I was aware of them before I came, how good the support was here. The support was great again, they are behind the team whether we win, lose or draw.

“They are our 12th man and I think it really helped us and pushed us over the line today.”

City may have left it late, but Surman said it was worth it on a day when a lot of the good things began to come together.

“It's the best time to score,” he said. “If you are going to win it you have to take as much away as you can because of the amount of times it happens to you in your career when you concede in the last minute or something like that.

“We are over the moon with the win - we will take it whatever way it comes.

“Overall I think we probably dominated the game. We had more chances, especially second half, and I think it's just good to come away with the three points. It's all about winning a game, no matter how you do it, and we are glad with the win.”

Surman played on the left of a changed midfield three, with Andrew Crofts at the base and Korey Smith on the right and David Fox relegated to the bench.

“I think whoever plays in there has got good understanding,” he said. “The manager has explained everyone's role so everyone knows what they are doing and I think it's working well, whoever plays in there.

“I thought Crofty was brilliant in there today; he broke up a lot of play and was really, really good in there, and obviously Wes (Hoolahan) is always getting on the ball and creating things.

“Korey got up and down and I just tried to work as hard as I could as well, so I think we have got a good understanding and if we can contribute to the win we will.

“I think the understanding has come pretty quickly. We had a lot of games in pre-season where I think it worked well.

“It's not going to work every week because teams are going to try and stop us playing, but we will keep playing the way we want to play and if it works and we get wins we are over the moon.”

Surman has the added responsibility of orchestrating all the set-pieces - the presence of Holt, Chris Martin and Michael Nelson as targets making it a valuable weapon.

“I think we have good height in there and when you've got goal scorers like Grant Holt and Chrissy Martin, we know if you put it in the right area more times than not they are going to get on the end of it and probably more times than not they are going to score.

“I am enjoying it. There is obviously responsibility when you get the delivery right, but I am enjoying that role and, in this league especially, they can win you games.

“There are a lot of physical teams in this league and we want to try and win games. If we can get a goal from a set-piece and win 1-0 then we will.”