Alan Pardew praised his team for stepping up to the plate in a week where Southampton lost two heroes.
The tragic deaths of two firemen earlier in the week has shocked the community, and the manager hopes that a win over top six side Charlton was a fitting tribute to the City.
"We have had a disappointing week this week off the pitch with the two firemen passing away so I think on behalf of the players we will dedicate that win to their families and to the fire service themselves. We are very pleased that we got a win for the City today," he told Saints Player.
"It was a tough game. It was two teams that didn't really want to open the game up too much, and the ref didn't really let us. I thought he gave far too many tiny little decisions, the whistle never stopped, so you're not going to get fluidity in a game like that.
"We got a good goal, we had moments on the break where we should have had a second and we defended resolutely, there was a good spirit amongst the team today I thought."
The match winner arrived just over ten minutes before the break and Pardew was pleased to see the goal come off the back of Jason Puncheon's persistence in a more advanced role in the side.
"We just played Punch there and encouraged him to take people on, he gave the ball away at times and made some poor decisions but I knew he would make one great one. That one simple pass is sometimes the hardest in football, and all Michail had to do was hit it.
"He (Michail) has done very well for us and it was a big game for him today. He got the nod in front of Lee Barnard, David Connolly and Papa Waigo and he delivered. He did what he needed to do today.
"We looked solid. Kelvin as you would expect had to make a couple of smart saves which he did. The only disappointing thing for me really was that we didn't get the second goal and didn't create that second opportunity in the second half.
"I was very close to bringing Connolly off the bench today because he is feeling a lot better, a lot more comfortable with his injury now. I think he could still play a big part in these final games, but I took the option of Lee Barnard because his energy was what we needed at the end as Charlton were pressing.
"It's simple for us," he concluded. "We have got to keep putting pressure on the teams above us and we are doing that because we keep winning. I can imagine the Huddersfield dressing room after seeing our result come through and Colchester's because that would be the last result they wanted to see today.
"We keep the pressure on and will go to Bristol Rovers, it's a huge game for them and us because they are still in it so I'm looking forward to it and if we win we have a good chance of winning the rest of our games. I think it is a key game."
