Gary McCann was delighted as he reflected on yesterday's win over Maidstone United as well as the current run of results, but is well aware that nothing has been won yet.

"I wasn't overly happy with the way that we played in the first 30 minutes," he said, "but the last 10 minutes of the first half was more like us.

"In the second half we were braver and I felt we edged the half, admittedly against 10 men.

"We grew into the game. You can't dress down the magnitude of the game. We worked ever so hard to make it the big game it was.

"Maybe we were a little nervy in the early part of the game. Once they had scored and we seemed to settle a little more. We started to find our way, created some set pieces and were dangerous from them.

"After the equaliser we didn't really want the half to end. At half-time, we told the players to be brave, and if we lost being brave then that would be down to me.

"Our defence was outstanding. Dave Diedhiou, James Fisher, Charlie Goode, Elliott Brathwaite and Ollie Sprague, plus Casey Maclaren and Lee O'Leary in front of them, were superb and I don't recall Ben McNamara making more than one save.

"Maybe the key moment was when Ollie made that goalline clearance of the header after 25 minutes. Maidstone are a very good strong team and the table doesn't lie. So, if we had gone 2-0 down, it would have been a mountain for us to climb."

As for the current run, Gary observed, "The defeat at Peacehaven was key. We had some very harsh words after the game, and the players have bought into what was said.

"I think the players have come of age. There is more respect for our players. For the past three years we have been looked upon as one of the better teams in the division. The dynamics of the dressing room - the characters - is as good as we have had in all my time here.

"We have strength and power when the pitches get heavy. We can cope with these things.

"Our training sessions are like games - everything done at the same tempo. Scott Cousins has been outstanding as coach; he has taken the respect he earned as club captain into his role as coach.

"But the biggest factor is the balance of the squad. We have 16-18 very good players in the squad and they have all contributed.

"We are where we are and the table doesn't lie. If you are top of the table after 46 games, then you deserve to be there. We have six games left to play in the League and nothing has been won yet."