Boss Ian Evatt praised his players’ persistence as they struck late to win the first of their remaining eight ‘cup finals’.
Amadou Bakayoko came off the bench to claim the 90th-minute goal which gave Wanderers a 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Crewe.
And the striker’s 11th goal of the season which belatedly rewarded the Whites’ second-half domination trimmed the gap to the play-off places to nine points.
“We kept going. It was really difficult to play any sort of football on that pitch but I thought we deserved to win,” said Evatt.
“We never really looked like conceding and managed to get a goal at the end which was great.
“This squad is capable of going on long winning runs. This was the first of eight cup finals we had left.
“We’ve got seven more to go. Teams are going to drop points unexpectedly. That’s the nature of the league and the competition.
“Today we’ve got an important goal and an important three points and things look a little bit better than they did last week.
“Three points is vitally important for us. The away support was fantastic again. They really backed the lads and I’m delighted to get the job done.”
A desperate playing surface and gusting wind at Gresty Road made constructive football almost impossible.
But Wanderers created almost all the chances that did come and were then indebted to Bakayoko, whose impact from the bench again made the difference to keep the play-off places in view with a first win in three games.
“Even though Crewe are bottom of the league, in these conditions, on this pitch it’s never going to be free-flowing and two, three, four-nil,” added Evatt.
“These types of games on a pitch like that and with the wind they’re always going to be tight and sometimes it’s set-plays that are the difference.
“With the way we started the second half I thought we deserved a goal, we hit the post and made the keeper make a couple of saves.
“It was never going to be pretty but we had to play in the right areas and be physical and direct at times and run into channels.
“We did that better in the second half than the first and Baka has managed to get us an important goal.
“I don’t think anyone wants to be labelled a super-sub but you can still be a very good player coming off the bench – especially with the squad we’ve got now.
“Sometimes the bench can make the difference in games and it was the difference today.”
Watch the manager's full post-match interview HERE