David Healy hit back at the "knife-sharpening" critics after Linfield bounced back to form with a crucial win on Tuesday night.
The Blues returned to the top of the Irish Premiership with a spirited 2-1 win over Larne at Windsor Park.
Goals from Stephen Fallon and Christy Manzinga, either side of a Ronan Hale equaliser, earned the champions maximum points from their latest acid test.
It also saw Linfield claim their first win four games, and give Healy's side a shot in the arm heading into Friday's huge Big Two derby showdown with Glentoran.
And Healy believes the win over Larne was the perfect response to anyone questioning his dressing room.
"Tonight was a tough game. There was a lot of pressure on us," Healy told Linfield's website.
"There was a lot of people talking about us, and there was a lot of knife-sharpening which is disappointing.
"There was a lot of people being negative about myself and some of the players, which is fine. But it is never nice when you read, you hear, you see.
"So the players were aware of the challenge tonight, and they delivered. They had to work it out for themselves on the pitch.
"More importantly, the players who have been here a long time, they knew the work needed to get the job done.
"They understand what it takes.
"And with the added freshness of the other players around the squad, it is important we have key players from previous squads and successful squads."
Healy added: There was a great will to win tonight, and it was needed.
"The fans and everyone involved at the club want to see a level of commitment which every single player gave tonight as always.
"When yo do get negative results, you get negative publicity and negative people who comment on things that they aren't 100 per cent aware of.
"But as a manager we try and keep them together as a group, we always try to find a way of getting out of situations we find ourselves in.
"And tonight was just as important as some other big results we have had in recent times."
Healy said Tuesday's result trumped any level of performance, admitting the three points were all that matter as we enter the business end of the season.
The win - coupled with Glentoran's 1-1 draw at Portadown - has left the Blues top of the table, but only on goal difference over their East Belfast rivals.
"It was a crucial result; an important result," he said of the win over Larne.
"I would have taken that over any sort of performance tonight. I don't think we were great in possession. I don't think we needed to be as it wasn't that type of game.
"We needed to win our battles.
"There were a lot of questions being asked and rightly or wrongly so. And the players are aware of that. So they rallied round as we normally do. They stuck together as we always do, and we responded in the proper manner, a Linfield manner.
"And the players deserve a hell of a lot of credit tonight. It wasn't the most glamorous of games, we didn't want it to be like that. We had to scrap for everything tonight.
"And the result is all that matters."
Healy added: "We have faced many challenges and we have never hidden away from what is expected. I have never hidden away from the fact that Linfield has always had success and they demand success, they crave it.
"This season is hard, it is a really, really tough season. But we will keep going to the end. With the players we have and commitment we will put in during the three months we have left ahead of us, I hope it will be enough."
