SAINTS’ character was praised by head coach Paul Wellens after Thursday night’s thrilling last-gasp victory over Salford Red Devils.

A Moses Mbye drop goal in golden-point extra time secured the win, but there was a 10-minute period late on where Saints were down to 11 men and defending desperately.

Tee Ritson’s chase back stopped Nene Macdonald’s chance to score and then seconds later Mbye bundled Deon Cross into touch by the corner post on the other flank.

“We came up against a good side who are in form and challenge you all over the field,” said Wellens.

“I thought it was a really attritional game, two good teams going at it with fine margins throughout.

“I was very pleased for the players and also the fans to come out on the right side of the result.

“I thought for the first 20 minutes we were really dominant. Again our completion rate was around 90 per cent at that point and we were making hardly any errors and Salford were finding it very difficult to get out of their half.”

Salford then went down to 12 men when Joe Shorrocks was sin-binned for obstruction in preventing a try-scoring opportunity.

“Once they went down to 12 men, we got a little bit loose, we dropped too much ball, gave away too many penalties – and I think that probably too often throughout the course of the night and that’s what made it the type of game that it was,” said Wellens.

“Late on it was a huge play from Moses.

“Believe it or not, we train for them moments, we train for chaos because big games can get chaotic at times.

“There’s nothing you can do about that, but what you have to do is handle chaos and I thought we did that really well at the back end of the game.

“Moses’ tackle on Deon Cross when he looks for all money he was going to score a try was outstanding.

“A huge play in the game because without it we probably wouldn’t have won the game.”

Lewis Dodd’s exit with an arm injury in the 57th minute and Daryl Clark’s departure late on with a head injury – along with Jonny Lomax and Jack Welsby sidelined for this game – left Saintys without their established full-back, hooker and halves on the field as they sought to find a way to win the contest.

Utility man Mbye, covering at stand-off, was the man to finally get the job done.

“I said to the playing group – they’ve shown huge character,” said Wellens.

“Throughout our spine, it is frustrating but I’ve almost come to terms with the fact that curve balls keep getting thrown our way.

“We’ve gone about 18 months with our spine fully fit and playing. Everything around them is what’s not been there. And then when we get everything back around them, our spine seem to want to disappear.

“It’s the nature of the business we’re in and we have to adapt all the time.

“One of the reasons we brought a player like Moses to the club in the first place is that his versatility is crucial, and his temperament – he knows what big games look like and he knows what’s required in big moments.”

And Wellens believes the big games are coming thick and fast for Saints now, with Wigan up next in the Magic Weekend event at Elland Road in Leeds.

“I’ve said to the playing group, we always talk about the back end of the season and getting ready for the big games. Well, these are the big games. We’re already there, every week’s vital,” he said.

“A couple of wins sends you a couple of places up one way, a couple of defeats and you drop down a couple of places.

“I’m sure it’s really exciting for people in the rugby league world and rugby league neutrals to see such jeopardy throughout the ladder approaching the play-off positions.

“We find ourselves probably in unfamiliar territory to what we’ve been in in recent years but there’s a challenge in that as well.”