Chris LakeySimon Lappin refused to accept more than his fair share of the plaudits - despite a goal-line clearance which arguably kept City in the game at Brighton on Saturday. Michael Nelson had produced an excellent stop on the line in the first half, but with City chasing the game and the match heading into the last 15 minutes, Lappin popped up to hook away a goalbound Glenn Murray header.Chris Lakey

Simon Lappin refused to accept more than his fair share of the plaudits - despite a goal-line clearance which arguably kept City in the game at Brighton on Saturday.

Michael Nelson had produced an excellent stop on the line in the first half, but with City chasing the game and the match heading into the last 15 minutes, Lappin popped up to hook away a goalbound Glenn Murray header.

Had the effort gone in, then City might not have been able to do what they did - snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But four minutes later, Grant Holt scored the equaliser and soon after Gary Doherty headed in the winner.

Lappin's intervention was vital - and all part of the job.

'You have jobs to do at set pieces, defending and attacking,' he said. 'Mine was from a corner, but I think Michael's was from open play and it's a great block on the line. But that's what we are there to do, we're there to defend our goal and get whatever we can in front of it and we've managed to keep the ball out of the net, which is great.

'Defenders, midfielders - you have to throw yourselves in front of balls and take the hit sometimes and if it saves a goal, it's great.

'It's okay saying that we've cleared them off the line, but the boys at the other end have scored the goals as well, so all over it's a great team effort and a great three points. You have a job to do and if you end up popping up at right back it's just one of those things, you just have to get on with it.'

City were better in the second half than the first - the interval team-talk was 'not going to be great', he said.

'We knew we had to be far, far better than what we were,' he said. 'We lost a poor goal from a set play, which is always disappointing. It's never pleasing when they go from that. First half I don't think we created too many chances, but we knew we had to be better for the second half and right from the off we hemmed them in their own half and played in their half of the park.

'We created chances, not too many clear-cut chances, we got a few, and then we got the goals and from then on in it was seeing the game out. But it was a massive three points. It's not an easy place to come and I think a lot of teams will struggle coming here as well. It's a great three points for us and we're absolutely delighted - especially to bounce back after last week's disappointment.'

Manager Paul Lambert's tactical changes played a huge part in the victory, as he threw everything at Brighton late on.

'I think everybody knows now that he knows what he's doing,' said Lappin. 'He's been there and done it a number of times, changing a team. He will put people on if he thinks they are going to create a chance or score a goal and it has worked again.

'It's been brilliant. It's a great three points and we just to need to kick on again next week and try and go and win the next game.'

While there are those who grab more headlines than others, Lappin insists there's a much bigger picture to look at.

'I think teams now are trying to play in a way that stops us playing our free flowing football, but it's up to us to break teams down, home and away,' he said. 'Certain players are put on to stop some of our players playing and break the game up, but the onus is on us to go and win the games if we want to achieve anything and we have got to have that all over the park.

'It's not just the front three, or big Fraser (Forster) with big saves or the back four, it's everybody and it is not just 11, it is the boys on the bench who are going to come on. It's a whole squad so there is a lot of hard work ahead of us, but there's a great belief in the camp that we can go and do something.'

After defeat at Millwall last week which ended the unbeaten run at 16, is it the start of a new run?

'We don't look any further ahead than the next game and the next one is next Saturday so we will not look any further than that,' he said.