Kevin Davies has backed Johan Elmander and Fabrice Muamba to go from strength to strength in the remaining eight matches of the season.

Against Wigan, both players got the goals that their recent performances have deserved, and the captain believes that finding the net will give their confidence an extra boost.

Elmander notched his third Barclays Premier League goal of the season while Muamba's strike was his first since joining from Birmingham City.

"I'm really happy for Johan," said Davies. "He has been working extremely hard for the side and on Saturday he was outstanding. He chased everything and got the goal that he deserved.

"It's the same for Fabrice because he has been playing well for us lately. He would be the first to admit that his finishing is the thing he has had to work on, so for him to get the goal - which he took really well - then we are all pleased for him.

"He's a great honest lad who does a job for the team which isn't easy. He closes players down, breaks the game up and is a player that opponents don't like playing against.

"We all saw what it meant to him with his celebration and I think it will give him a massive lift, and it's a similar situation for Johan."

The Whites have picked up nine points from a possible 12 available, moving up to 13th position in the process.

But the captain has stressed the significance of continuing that momentum in the last two months of the season after a period of ten matches in the space of 36 days.

He added: "We targeted these last four games, so to win three of those is a great achievement. We had a couple of difficult away trips at West Ham and Sunderland but those nine points have given us a big lift.

"Three weeks ago we were right in amongst it but now we have a little bit of breathing space. We are not going to rest on that, we want to keep performing and get as many points as we can.

"We've not set any targets because this season now is really all about safety. It's important that we get a bit of consistency because we set a marker against Wigan and we need to keep reaching that level.

"We seemed to be two or three fixtures behind but now we are one in front. It's been a bit hectic with all the games but for the next few weeks then we are playing from Saturday to Saturday, with just the Chelsea game in midweek until the end of the season.

"I think it's important now to get the right rest then come in and train hard. Like I said, we have set the bar now and that's how we need to keep playing in the remaining games."