Steven Schumacher welcomed the confidence boost of a 5-1 win as Wanderers closed in on a play-off place in style.
The Whites matched their biggest winning margin of the season as they thumped top-six rivals Stevenage with the returning Amario Cozier-Duberry the catalyst with two goals on his first start since January.
Wanderers still need another victory to be mathematically certain of featuring in the play-offs but moved back up to third place in the League One table as they hit back from Saturday’s loss at Cardiff with a much-needed second win in seven games.
“That was much better,” said a happy Schumacher. “We said yesterday in the Press that we needed to do better, we needed to play well, be more positive and try and put things right that we didn't do well on Saturday.
“I thought the lads were excellent. They fully deserved to win the game, get three points and to score the goals and get a bit of confidence back. I think that was really important because I just felt on Saturday at Cardiff that was what was lacking.
“We highlighted it yesterday, like ‘come on, that's not us’, and let's try and take the game to the opposition. We've got good players who can run past people with the speed and energy that they've got and tonight we showed that.
“Amario is a top player, we know that. We know how well he played for us early on in the season and missing somebody like that is a blow to you. We've missed him for almost three months and we've managed to still stick him in the top six places.
“If he was available for the whole time, who knows? He's just got that little bit of X-factor where he can get away from people and he scores goals. His two goals tonight were excellent.
“His first one is a strike from outside the box and his second one is a really composed finish from a really good move, so we’re buzzing to have him back because we've missed him. We’ve just missed his enthusiasm and his energy for the game.”
Amario’s two goals, taking his tally for the season to nine, were added to by quality strikes from Johnny Kenny and Ruben Rodrigues, who also impressed on their return to starting duty.
Mason Burstow rounded things off as Stevenage’s previous watertight defence was picked apart, not helped by the absence of midfielder Daniel Phillips following his 42nd-minute red card for throwing Kenny to the ground.
Wanderers next face Huddersfield Town on Saturday, with the Terriers currently one place outside the play-off zone. Schumacher’s men then take on Bradford City and Luton Town – who also have promotion aspirations – with the boss targeting a big finish to hopefully take into a play-off campaign.
“Just be positive, that's it,” Schumacher added. “If we fail, we fail big. ‘Go for it, what are we waiting for?’ That was the message on Saturday at half-time. Saturday didn't pan out and you get bad days in football, but let's be positive, let's just go and have a go at everyone. Let’s try and take the game to teams and see where it takes us.
“We've got a huge game on Saturday against Huddersfield, again another team who are pushing for the play-offs, and if we can manage to get three points in that then we'll probably be firmly in it, so we'll have to go for it.”
Watch the full interview on Wanderers TV and to be at Saturday’s big game, click HERE for tickets.