Boss Ian Evatt will send Wanderers out hungry to launch a ‘new’ winning run as they resume their promotion push, writes Pete Oliver.
The Whites return to League One action following the international break with Saturday’s home game against Exeter City.
Evatt’s in-form side goes into the first of nine fixtures in little over a month on the back of a seven-match winning streak that has taken them to within one point of league leaders Portsmouth and into the second stage of both the FA Cup and Bristol Street Motors (EFL) Trophy.
Victory over the Grecians would make this the first Wanderers’ team in 33 years to make it eight wins in a row but Evatt is viewing the re-start as a clean slate in a bid to keep piling up the points.
“If you can rack up consecutive wins it normally means that you move up the table. At the moment we're not where we want to be so it's important for us to string results together,” said the Wanderers’ manager.
“I think the best teams do that consistently. If they have any negative results they always bounce back and I think this season we've done that. We've had some bad results but we've always managed to find an answer in the following fixture.
“Fingers crossed that continues but when you're on these runs, I've said to the players this week, you have to fight tooth and nail to make sure you stay on them. That's what we're doing and that's what we'll be doing on Saturday. We'll be making sure we're ready to go again.
“It's really been a re-set and we're starting from scratch again. Yes, we know we've won seven on the spin but for us it's almost starting from zero again and trying to put another run together.
“If we can start again with the mindset ‘this is the next one’ then I think the players can do it all over again. We want to have that focus and I've seen that this week from the players they're hungry and ready to play on Saturday.”
Wanderers – outside the automatic promotion spots only on goal difference – will be aiming to make it six successive league wins when they face an Exeter side at the other end of the form table.
The Grecians ended a 10-game winless run under former Wigan and Chesterfield boss Gary Caldwell with a mid-week success in the EFL Trophy but Evatt knows there can be no dropping of standards if Wanderers are to among the division’s pace-setters.
“We're just trying to win as many games as possible in every competition we're still in. It's really simple and we're going to attack this game on Saturday in no different to all the others. It's a home game and our home form has been pretty good so far this season and we want to continue that,” he added.
“We give them respect. I know the manager, who I played under. They will be focused, well-drilled and organised. They've had two weeks to repair for our fixture so they will have a plan. It's important we have a plan as well and we execute that plan better than they do on the day and get the all-important three points.
“Again, it’s about our process and our performance and if we can execute that we have a great chance of winning. We’re not entitled and we're not expectant. All we want to do is focus on our own performance and make sure that's good and if it is good and it's to our level then we've got a good chance of winning any game.”
Tickets are still available for Saturday’s game. Details of how to buy are available HERE