St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright was overjoyed after his side battled to a 1-0 win over goal-shy Aberdeen, and admits he is pleased to see his side enjoy defending again.
The visitors held Aberdeen at arms length after Ali McCanns early goal on the counter-attack and were rewarded with a bit of luck as Niall McGinns free-kick in the final minute came off a post the closest the home side came to levelling.
Wright said: Every win is joyous. We got a wonderful goal an exquisite finish and it just oozes class. Ali is getting better and better.
We got a bit of luck at the end but weve not had a lot of luck, so maybe thats changing.
I think its significant that weve closed the gap to Hibs above us to three points. We wont get carried away because weve had bad runs before and things can change quickly.
We look as if were enjoying defending at times now. Jamie McCart has slotted in well. Theres a lot of pressure on him because weve paid money for him, but hes handled it well.
Dons boss Derek McInnes admits he perhaps gambled with his line-up as he considered Saturdays Scottish Cup tie against Kilmarnock.
He said: I gambled a bit tonight, putting Ronald Hernandez in. He maybe needs a bit more time to adjust. I gambled with leaving Funso Ojo out as he felt a wee bit of tightness in his hamstring. We feel we may not see the best of Niall McGinn with three games in a week.
I gave others opportunities and youd have to say people didnt take it, and as a consequence it was a tough night.
We havent lost any ground but weve certainly lost the confidence and any positives from a very good performance at Ibrox. I was expecting with the changes for us to go and build on that.