West Bromwich Albion manager Alan Pardew was pleased with his side's application given the importance of the occasion, in Saturday's 2-0 defeat over Brighton & Hove Albion at the Hawthorns.
The home side claimed victory over the Seagulls with two headed goals at the start of either half through Jonny Evans and fellow central defender Craig Dawson, and Pardew emphasised that the win was a welcome one given the side's position.
He said, "We've had some really good performances without winning recently so it was important to get the three points today.
"I thought we played really well considering the pressure we were under and it was a very important game in our season.
"We worked hard to achieve it and our open play was the best I've seen since I've arrived here at the club.
The manager was also keen to praise the efforts of the 25,000 crowd inside the ground, citing that it would be a key factor in determining the forutnes of their season as the Premier League moves through the second half of the campaign.
"The other big plus point for me was the atmosphere inside the stadium, because to have a crowd like that after the run we've been on is really something special.
"We're fortunate in that respect and we have to thank them - it'll be massive going forward.
"If we can get our home ground like that every time we play here, then that hopefully will be enough.
Albion's search for a way back into the game saw them bring on the attacking duo of both Solly March and Sam Baldock - the latter making his Premier League debut, as well as midfielder Beram Kayal, but the Baggies boss was pleased with how his side retained their advanatge in the latter stages of the contest.
"I thought we managed the last 20 minutes really well - we worked hard on the training ground and got rewarded.
"We worked on set-plays this week and that's really pleased me - historically this side has been strong at those.
"Recently that's not been as strong, so we put some new ideas in and changed it around a bit, and it worked for us."