Burley made two changes to the team that failed to sparkle against Coventry, with Makin coming in at right back and Belmadi earning a first start since his return from injury at the expense of Rudi Skacel.
It was a surprise to see Burley favourite Skacel not even in the squad, with the Czech perhaps a fall guy for the Coventry performance having been substituted at half time, although it is more likely that he is still feeling his back injury.
Pele's quality was missed in midfield, with Wright and Viafara failing to impose themselves on the opposition, as Saints frequently wasted possession against an Ipswich side looking to pack midfield.
Up front Burley kept faith with the partnership of Saganowski and Jones, to the frustration of top scorer Rasiak. Saga scored the winning goal and Jones should have had a double showing the wisdom of the partnership, although Jones in particular could have done with Rasiak's clinical finishing, wasting our two best chances when clean through.
At the back it was the usual mix of some eye-catching defending from individuals, Baird in particular, and collective moments of carelessness, that Ipswich failed to make the most of.
On the Cross verdict
After the desperately disappointing result against Coventry, the table has closed up again with today's set of results leaving Saints an encouraging four points off top, thanks to a welcome win.
However, we remain as inconsistent as ever, a trait which looks set to spoil our chances of automatic promotion, unless Burley can find a way to get the best out of his talented squad in the remaining games.
At least we managed to win ugly today, creating less chances than normal and proving unusually careless in possession. Derby have shown just how beneficial grinding out the 1-0s can be, even if their luck is turning with a second loss in a row.
After the horror show that was the Ipswich home loss last season and the protests against then Chairman Rupert Lowe, it is worth recognising that Saints have come a long way, hanging onto a lead that we so often would have thrown away. That we didn't was as much thanks to our improved confidence, as it did to Ipswich's lack of confidence in front of goal after a poor sequence of results.
In the second half, Ipswich played some lovely passing football, but failed to make it count in the final third. How often have we said that about Saints? In the end, despite not playing at our peak, we saw the game out comfortably and move up a place to fifth.
It is unlikely that in our next game Preston will be quite so generous on their home patch in a classic six pointer, with the once high-flying North End down in seventh, but level on points with Saints on 59 and with a game in hand.
It is vital that Saints bring our A-game as we seem able to do against those towards the top of the table and hope that our luck holds good and we can keep our concentration in defence.
For now let's just enjoy the win on a day when some of the bad luck from the painful 2-1 away defeat to Ipswich evened itself out.
Man of the match: It's easy to forget just how good this 17 year old is, even on a day when he wasn't quite at his imperious best. Gareth Bale setup the winner for Saganowski with a perfect free kick, full of pace and accuracy. He cut through the Ipswich defence like a knife through butter - is there a better sight for a Saints fan than Gareth in full flow? Hampered by a knock in the second half, he battled through the pain barrier with real credit.
Cameo of the day: Closer still to 90 minutes from the Algerian wizard Djamel Belmadi. On a day when much of Saints' play looked laboured he provided moments of real quality, including winning the free-kick that setup the goal with a wonderful cut back and turn.
Thorn in the side: Threatened to bring back painful memories of his double for Ipswich last season, Alan Lee gave our defence a torrid time with his 'sack of spuds' centre forward play. It was a relief to see him substituted on a day when the ball just didn't quite fall for him.