Harry Kewell says his Reds’ players will stay grounded despite their good recent run.
Last Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Accrington Stanley was our eighth victory in the last 12 games, compared to four from the first 18 matches.
The Stanley success came hot on the heels of a 2-1 success against Notts County, which means Reds have taken 21 out of a possible 30 points from games against sides in the top eight.
Our fifth win in six has lifted Reds up to within five points of the play-off positions and we are top of the form table based on the last six results.
But the boss will not let the players rest on their laurels. After a couple of days off they will be back at work on Tuesday preparing for Saturday’s game against Chesterfield.
HK said: “The players should be pleased with their form in the last few weeks. You could argue that we have turned things around in terms of our season, and that has only been achieved through the collective hard work of the players and staff.
“But we have achieved nothing. It’s obviously better to be 12th in the table instead of 22nd but there are 16 games left – more than a third of the season. We have 48 points to play for. There is so much more of the season left.
“The time to assess the season is at 5pm on May 5 after we’ve played Mansfield and the season is over. Then we can say whether it’s been a success or not, not at the end of January.”
The boss says Saturday’s trip to the Proact Stadium will be as tough as any of their recent games.
He added: “Look, we all know what this division is like. There are upsets and shocks every week. Chesterfield were arguably the best side we’ve played at home this season when they won here 2-0, Saturday will be a very difficult game. They beat Luton a couple of weeks ago - that's how good they are.
“We’ll go there confident based on recent results but everyone in our dressing room knows that to achieve anything in any of the games we have left we have to work extremely hard, maintain standards and hope we get a bit of luck, which you always need.”
