Southampton eased pressure on head coach Tonda Eckert by snapping a seven-match winless run in the Sky Bet Championship with a deserved 1-0 victory at home to Sheffield United.
Leo Scienza's deflected seventh-minute strike proved the difference at St Mary's as Saints warmed up for Sunday's south-coast derby at bitter rivals Portsmouth with an overdue success.
The hosts wasted a series of chances to make the scoreline more comfortable before hanging on to climb a place to 15th position, above Swansea on goal difference.
Chris Wilder's Blades almost snatched a late leveller through substitute Patrick Bamford but remain 17th - four points above the relegation zone - after slipping to a third-successive defeat in all competitions.
The two clubs started the season among the promotion favourites but beyond the midway point, both are languishing in the bottom half of the table.
Saints boss Eckert made four changes following Saturday's 2-1 home loss to Hull and watched his team take an early lead.
Brazilian left-back Welington - one of those recalled - dispossessed Ki-Jana Hoever deep in opposition territory, allowing compatriot Scienza to drive towards the 18-yard box and find the bottom-left corner via a hefty touch off Blades captain Ollie Arblaster to claim his first goal in nine games.
Saints striker Ross Stewart threatened with a header and team-mate Tom Fellows was denied a penalty following a challenge from Harrison Burrows before the hosts squandered a golden opportunity to double the lead.
After Arblaster failed to control Callum O'Hare's pass in midfield, Stewart and Flynn Downes combined to tee up Finn Azaz but he scuffed the ball wastefully wide from eight yards out.
United breathed another sigh of relief four minutes short of half-time when goalkeeper Michael Cooper prevented Scienza capitalising on a slip from Hoever and Burrows blocked the follow-up.
Blades manager Wilder had switched his entire defence as part of seven alterations after his side received two red cards in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Charlton, but initially resisted further changes following a poor first-half display.
The visitors gradually began to put some pressure Southampton's backline, albeit home goalkeeper Daniel Peretz was not significantly tested.
Saints substitute Adam Armstrong - linked with a transfer this month - nodded wide from Elias Jelert's cross at the other end before Cooper superbly repelled Scienza's diving header.
Wilder brought on former Southampton striker Danny Ings for the final 11 minutes in a bid to find an equaliser.
Fellow Blades replacement Bamford nearly grabbed an 89th-minute equaliser but he was denied by the legs of Peretz following a defensive mix-up, while Gustavo Hamer headed into the side-netting in added time.
Southampton's Tonda Eckert:
"It feels good but in the end it's not about me, it's about the football club. I think the football club needed that victory more than anything else. For the club, today was massive.
"What you can take away from this game is not every game is just beautiful in the sense of 65, 70 per cent possession and 25 shots on goal but there are some games that just go in a different way.
"I'm very sure that this game on Sunday will be a very tough one, one that we need to grind out.
"So knowing that we can do this, that we can come away with a clean sheet, knowing that we - with a desire to leave everything on the pitch - are able to win games of football is going to help us massively for Sunday."
Sheffield United's Chris Wilder:
"First half we were a little bit leggy and took our time to get going but we were a lot better second half.
"Even the last five, 10 minutes, we could possibly win that 3-1 with the chances we had but we've got to convert those situations.
"As much as the defeat pains me, we've got a team that's having a right go. But I want us to have a right go and get something from the game and I certainly think we deserved something from the game.
"It's a tough gig at the moment for everybody, losing the players we have done. But we've just got to fight our way through it and that's what we'll do."
