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Wanderers took an important step towards clinching a play-off spot in League One with victory against Shrewsbury Town – but Ian Evatt has reminded his team that nothing is yet written in stone.
Five points from the remaining three games will guarantee a place in the semi-finals for the Whites, who had Josh Sheehan to thank for a priceless winner on Saturday at the UniBol.
Accrington Stanley are next up tomorrow night and Evatt is determined to keep focus against a Lancashire rival staring relegation in the face.
“We are in a good place but we are not complacent at all,” he said. “We will enjoy that win and move on because Tuesday night is a completely different challenge.
“I haven’t seen Accrington go low block against anyone – in fact it could be the opposite where they go man-for-man, toe-to-toe, be really aggressive and try to beat us that way.
“It is a different type of game for us and might require different personnel.
“It is a huge game for them, a huge game for us, but we will be ready.
“I have firm belief in these players and even the ones on the bench who were itching to get involved, they will make an impact will get their opportunity. There is still a lot of hard work to do, we just need to keep going.”
Evatt felt there had been an over-reaction in some quarters to the 1-1 draw at Burton Albion in midweek and having stuck with 10 of the 11 who started at the Pirelli Stadium, a goalless first half on Saturday set more nerves jangling around the stadium.
Wanderers were dominant in the second half, hit the woodwork three times, and had two one-on-one chances saved by the Shrews’ excellent goalkeeper Marko Marosi.
Evatt appealed for patience and faith as his side look to get the job done.
“Post-Wembley and regardless of the result, you get to hear snippets, even though I don’t really do social media,” he said. “There has been an adverse reaction to a draw – which I apologise for that – but we performed really well on Tuesday, Burton is a tough place to go and they have made it difficult for Derby away from home today and just beaten Wycombe, Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday. We have to give the opposition some respect, we are not just going to blow teams away.
“I liked a lot of what I saw on Tuesday, so I asked them to go again and replicate it. And it was a different kind of performance, but I still think it was a good one.
“Shrewsbury are an organised team with some good players. Steve (Cotterill) is an experienced manager that I respect hugely, it was never going to be easy.
“So, what we did was tire the opposition out first half, the spaces got bigger in the second half and we took advantage. In those types of games, or against teams like Shrewsbury who are dangerous from set pieces and second phases we do have to make sure we get a second goal because if we don’t then the game is still in the balance.”
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