Wanderers’ staying power paid off again as they struck late to secure another big three points.
Josh Sheehan’s injury-time winner completed a 2-1 victory over Rotherham United in front of a joyous Boxing Day crowd.
And boss Steven Schumacher admitted the dressing-room mantra had powered his men forward once more as they bounced back from conceding a 90th-minute penalty to secure the victory that lifted them to fourth place in League One – four points away from the automatic promotion places.
“While it's still 1-0, the opposition are always going to have a spell or a little bit of encouragement and credit to Rotherham they put loads of good crosses in the box in the second half,” said the Whites’ head coach.
“The way that Max defended two of the crosses on the back post was excellent but the mistake that we made for the penalty gives them a lifeline.
“But the way we reacted was brilliant and to go down the other end and Amario to create one for Josh to get a second goal of the season was a brilliant way to win it. ’Keep going until the end’ - that's the mantra and we've showed that loads of times this season.
“We're a fit group, we keep believing in what we're trying to do and we've got some quality. I wish we'd show the quality more often and make better decisions and better choices and better execution, but they never give up, so fair play.
“It's a game, as I say, where we get another three points at home and keep our really good run going. We go onto Monday against Mansfield now and another opportunity for us to try and pick up maximum points at home. It will probably be a similar type of game, one where we just have to find a way to win.”
Wanderers will go into Monday night's fixture against the Stags still unbeaten at home thanks to the first league double of Sheehan’s career. The midfielder capped another outstanding performance by breaking the deadlock just before half-time with his first goal of the season and then dragging his team forward one last time to repair the potential late damage with a coolly-taken 93rd-minute winner.
“It's a game that we did deserve to win. The manner in the way it happened is probably a little bit more exciting and a little bit more nerve-wracking than what it needed to be,” added Schumacher, who saw his side punished for failing to kill off the Millers before coming good again in the nick of time.
“But in general I thought it was a decent performance and another big three points. I say it all the time, every team basically comes here and plays 5-4-1 and puts 11 men behind the ball and it's not easy to break down.
“The top teams struggle to break down low blocks with no space. But you've just got to find a way to be as creative as you can. We said at half-time, let's not stop now, we have to go for the throat and keep moving forward.
“We wanted to keep trying to get towards their goal and create another big chance and kill it off. The biggest chance that we got was when Joel went through, who I thought was brilliant, all game.
“If he just slotted that away he'd probably get a standing ovation and the reaction when he did take him off wasn't too pleased with. He was excellent again. Because he didn't score the second goal it nearly cost us but the way we reacted was brilliant.”
Watch the full post-match interview with the box on Wanderers TV