Steven Schumacher hailed Wanderers’ “belief” after they came from behind to beat leaders Birmingham City 3-1 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
John McAtee, George Thomason and Aaron Collins were all on target as the Whites secured a big three points to boost their play-off push.
“We spoke after the Wrexham game about how impressive Birmingham have been this season and how good they are. They deserved to be 12 points clear at the top,” said Schumacher.
“We said that's all well and good but we've got to believe that if we get our plan right and we commit to it, we can get a result.
“Credit to the players, they stuck at it even when they scored the goal. They kept going and grew in confidence.
“We showed good character again to produce a moment of quality. It was a nice little move and another good pass. Macca keeps his good form up and it's a good finish. It gave us something to build on.
“They were having to work hard for what they were doing. We put Birmingham under pressure and we said if we can keep that intensity up for as long as possible, and start the second half fast, then we'll have a chance.
“I think for about 15 minutes they didn't have the ball too many times in our own half and that shows how well the players did. The second half was excellent.”
The Whites have now won four of their six league matches since Schumacher took charge and are only a point off the play-offs, with a game in hand on sixth-place Huddersfield.
When asked if the performance surprised him in any way, the head coach replied: “Not really because I’ve watched a lot of these.
“I went to watch them live when I was out to work and was so impressed with them. I kind of expected the game to be a bit like that.
“They were going to have spells of pressure. We knew that if we got our man-to-man press right, got lucky sometimes and passed the ball in areas where our shape was going to cause them a problem, then I kind of expected the game to go like that.
“So not too many surprises, but it was just a good night. We can’t get carried away, we have to keep building on it.”
More than 23,000 supporters were in attendance at the Toughsheet Community Stadium and the intense atmosphere certainly gave Wanderers a boost at times.
“It was brilliant and again when we go behind, however many times that is, about a thousand times now,” the boss joked.
“When we've been behind, you don't sense any sort of anxiousness in the crowd and if that isn't the case then the players don't feel it.
“They just keep passing the ball and keep trying to do what we asked them to do. The atmosphere, especially in the second half, was outstanding.”
Wanderers made four changes from the goalless draw at Wrexham several days prior, with Eoin Toal, Chris Forino, George Thomason and Carlos Mendes Gomes coming into the side.
“The way I'm asking the lads to play, to play with that energy and with that intensity, to keep trying to pass the ball forwards and run forwards, physically it's demanding so you have to freshen it up,” Schumacher explained.
“Especially in three-game weeks because it's a squad game, it's not possible to just play this whole season with 11 players.
“Chris Forino, I’ll single him out because he was left out of the squad on Saturday at Wrexham because we didn't need another centre-back.
“He was disappointed but I said, ‘Look, football's got a funny way of surprising you so just be ready for when you get your chance’.
“Then Will Forrester phoned up on Sunday morning and said he had a bit of a tight hamstring so we didn't want to risk him for tonight's game.
“Chris, from not even being on the bench, is starting and to play 90 minutes against the best team in the league, the way he did, was brilliant.”
Thomason has also had to be patient at times over the past few weeks but managed to get on the scoresheet early in the second half.
“George obviously got suspended in my first game and had to wait patiently for his opportunity. He’d been chomping at the bit in training and that game tonight was made for him - pressing, energy, aggression. He was excellent,” the boss insisted.
