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Ian Evatt felt Wanderers got the victory they deserved at Oxford United after taking the hosts on at their own game at the Kassam Stadium.
Wanderers traded blows in the first half, twice coming back from a goal behind, before snatching all three points with a late goal from Amadou Bakayoko.
Declan John and Marlon Fossey had cancelled out Billy Bodin’s brace for the U’s, who boast one of League One’s best home records.
Karl Robinson’s attacking and enterprising side may feel short-changed by the result but Evatt felt his side’s bravery on the day was crucial.
“That was a really good game of football and two good teams,” he said. “It was a great advert for League One and there were five really high quality goals scored. A moment of brilliance has won us the game in the end but I thought in the first half in particular we were excellent.
“We went punch-for-punch with a team that is dangerous and score lots of goals. I think they have only had one defeat since October, they are well coached, but we came here full of confidence and the bench had made a lot of difference.
“Behind the scenes we have talked about at length that our mindset has to be strong. We need to be together.
“It is my job to keep them together and it becomes more difficult because we have so many good options and there are people disappointed every week.
“That can be aimed at me, I can take it, but as a group they need to stick together and back each other. We need to share the responsibility out and everyone will be needed in this stretch because we have so many games.
“Today we made changes, the boys who came in did great, the boys who came on did great, and the team on Tuesday will be different again. We have that luxury now.
Wanderers have closed the gap to Oxford and the top six to eight points ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Burton Albion but Evatt says his team cannot afford to get over-excited at this stage of the campaign.
“We are still a long way off with 15 games to go,” he said. “I had a points target and total in my head that I shared with the players and that is one tick. We need more before we eve start to think about it.
“For now we have to concentrate on working hard, improving, keeping the group in one piece. If we can do that then we have a chance, but it is only a chance.”
The change in mentality at Wanderers compared with the final few months of 2021 has also been noticeable and Evatt felt the confidence on show at Oxford shows how far his players have progressed.
"We have worked and spoke about it at length and it helps with results and performances because when you’ve been used to winning games again, it breeds confidence and I feel like we can score plenty of goals in every game," he added.
"I think we are dangerous, we’re a threat, we attack with speed and we showed that with the third goal. I thought it was a brilliant goal and worthy of winning any game."
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