Steven Schumacher will demand a repeat of Wanderers’ top-of-the-bill showing when they fix their sights on the other end of the League One table, writes Pete Oliver.
The Whites set a high bar when they handed league leaders Birmingham City a rare defeat on Tuesday night to make it four successive home wins.
And the head coach wants no drop-off for Saturday’s trip to relegation battlers Burton Albion when Wanderers will again try and force their way into the play-off places.
“Tuesday's game was obviously a highlight and something that we all enjoyed, in a brilliant atmosphere against a top-quality opposition and Saturday's game will be the same and we'll be saying the same to the players,” insisted Schumacher.
“It's going to be a tough game for us. Burton is never an easy place to go. They're a team who are in good form at the moment, so we have to make sure that we're ready for it and compete and work as hard as we did on Tuesday to get what we all want, which is another three points.
“Again, it'll be a different style of game, you would expect. Burton Albion won't play the same style of football as Birmingham did, or probably as Wrexham did either. They're probably somewhere in the middle, so we have to pick a team and come up with a plan that we think will give us the best chance of winning.
“But once again the message will be over to the players; we can set you up and we can try and come up with the ideas but it's over to them to go out and perform and play at the intensity and the energy that they've shown lately. It'll be another good game for us, and one we should be going into it full of confidence.”
The Wanderers’ camp is certainly buoyant following a run of six wins and a draw from their last eight league games. And even though that return has not yet been enough to force them into the top six, Schumacher isn’t concerned as he remains focused on racking up the points to reach the target come the end of the campaign.
“That's what happens when you're winning games. It breeds confidence,” added the boss, who will give a late check to defender Will Forrester to see whether he can return to the squad to face a Burton side revitalised by manager Gary Bowyer and within one win of a potential place outside the bottom four.
“Everything's nicer and everyone's in a better mood, including myself, when you win, so that's what we've got to try and do and just keep trying to work like that, with that sort of energy and enthusiasm around the training ground.
“If we get that right at the training ground, then we hope the match-days will take care of themselves. The players are in good spirits, and they should be, but also what we've had to say to them over the last few days, and even last week, is that football has a funny way of getting you if you're not quite right. So, make sure that we're right and we play right and keep performing to the levels that we can do and we'll continue this momentum if we can.
“We haven't managed to get ourselves in the top six yet. We've been in brilliant form and still haven't managed to get in, so it shows how competitive the top end of the league one is. But we're OK with that.
“We just keep going. We don't look too far ahead, we just look at the next game and if we can win the next game it gives us a chance to get into the play-offs. And if we can win the game after that then it continues, so that'll be the message to the lads; stay focused, keep going, and we'll be fine.”
Watch the full pre-match interview and latest injury up-date with the head coach on Wanderers TV