Head coach Nelson Jardim insists that his side must continue building momentum as they face promotion hopefuls Bradford City tomorrow afternoon (3pm).
The Exiles welcome the Bantams to Rodney Parade on the back of an impressive unbeaten run of five matches, including four consecutive victories over Barrow AFC, Morecambe, Crewe Alexandra, and Carlisle United.
However, Jardim insists that despite the strong recent form, his players must keep their feet firmly on the ground and take each challenge as it comes, acknowledging that Bradford will be a tough test.
"The job is never really finished," he said, reflecting on his side’s recent run of form.
"We always have to look ahead and identify areas for improvement. We have to finish the season well and push forward as much as we can.
"We can have the comfort of the table but also need a team and a group growing, who fight together and are ambitious. We are fuelled by the energy to improve and get better every day. We are not going to switch off, we want more.
"Now, we've won four in a row, as you mentioned, but the goal is still to win every game. In football, you can’t get too high, especially when you’re on a winning streak, so we must remain grounded.
"We need to keep the momentum carrying on tomorrow, but we must maintain stability and focus too. It’s all about laying strong foundations, and that’s only possible if we keep winning games.
"The recent wins and form have all been about the little details. Even when we were losing, we weren’t playing that badly, and we weren’t playing that brilliantly when we were winning.
"If you look back, take the Wimbledon game as an example—we should have been 3-0 up at halftime, and you wouldn’t have expected anything less than a comfortable win.
"But the way they scored their goals, it was a bit soft, and a bit of luck was on their side. After that, we had good performances against Swindon and Port Vale away. It’s about having a solid group of people working hard, believing in what we’re doing."
"Football can be unpredictable - sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. Right now, we’re in a good rhythm, and we’re just trying to keep that momentum going."
Bradford make the trip to South Wales tomorrow in fine form, currently sitting in the automatic promotion places with 55 points in 3rd place.
But Jardim believes the affair will be a different one compared to the defeat at Valley Parade in October.
"Tomorrow will definitely be a different game compared to the first one," Jardim added.
"In that previous match, I thought we were a bit unlucky, especially considering we were dominant in the second half."
"At one point, I really believed we could win that game. Unfortunately, a few small details didn’t go our way, and the result went in their favour. But now, both teams have changed since then—Bradford’s stronger, and so are we. We expect to compete and go for the win."
"It will be a typical League Two game—tight, competitive, and tough. Bradford are in great form, but we’ll go out there with the belief that if we do our job, we can take the three points."