St Albans City manager David Howell paid tribute to his side’s defence after they dug in for a 1-0 win at Frome Town.

The Saints boss criticised his side’s defending after last week’s draw with Arlesey Town but he was quick to praise his back five after their victory, which kept them in contention for a Southern Premier play-off spot.

Howell, who takes his side to AFC Totton tonight, said: “I was critical of the defence last week against Arlesey but I’ve got to sing their praises because Frome were bombarding us in the second half. To show how well they defended, with all the pressure Frome had, Nick Jupp only had two saves to make. They were very good saves but that just shows how well the back four defended in front of him.

“I thought Cedric Ngakam was the better of the two in the first half. But Jimmy [Gray] went into overdrive in the second half with anything that got in his way and blocked any tackle. He was ably supported by Cedric and that back five won us the game. If you’d said to me we’d draw at Arlesey and win here I would have taken it. I’m just pleased we got the three points which keeps us in the race.”

St Albans’ winner came after just five minutes when striker Simon Martin found the net. It extended their unbeaten run to three games and was also their fifth win in the last seven league matches.

Former Harrow Borough manager Howell said: “I’ve been criticising Simon about his lack of goals. He’s so unselfish and I said to him he’s got to take some of Sakho’s [Bakare] selfishness and get in or around the box and get a shot off. He took his goal really well, worked hard and won balls in the air. That’s what he’s in the side for. Sakho came on and the effort he had in the second half should have made it more comfortable for us.

“You could probably describe it as an ugly 1-0 win. I thought we started off bright and looked good going forward in the first half. Probably at half-time we came in 1-0 up and really should have sealed the game by two or three then. But in the end we could have gone in 1-1 after they had a free-kick which went just wide of the post.

“We knew it would be difficult in the second half because they were coming down the slope at us and it didn’t help that we had a lot of injuries.

“There were a number of knocks and the centre-back pair were struggling. Jimmy and Cedric had knocks and the central midfielder pairing of David Ijaha and Micah Hyde had knocks. Danny Hart didn’t have a great deal of petrol left in the tank after being out of the first team for a while.

“We lost Paul Furlong early and we were kind of disjointed so we knew the second half was going to be hard. It was really difficult to even contemplate substitutions knowing at any minute someone else could drop.”

The Saints will play most of the sides above them in the table during the run-in and face another key match this weekend when they host fourth-placed Oxford City.

Howell added: “We go into every game, whether we are home or away, looking to win. I know our away from early on wasn’t the best but it has picked up a lot. The pressure is on for all those teams at the top because as soon as you lose a match you’ve got to literally come back and win one. We have to stay in that pack and be ready to make a move if and when we’re in a position to do so.”

There is a St Albans City team and supporters coach going to Worcester for the away game against Evesham United on Saturday, March 10. The coach will depart at 10.30am from the Clarence Park entrance to the ground. To book a seat call Ian Rogers on 07714 145862 or Barry Hilliard on 07831 859041. The cost is £19 for adults and £11 for juniors.

The Harpenden Construction Limited January player of the month is Sakho Bakare and, following the postponement of the match against Stourbridge, his award will now be presented by Saints supporters Mark and Oliver Jones prior to this Saturday’s game against Oxford City.