Head coach Nelson Jardim has challenged his Newport County side to keep their performance levels high when they travel to face AFC Wimbledon tomorrow night (7.45pm).
The Exiles head to the Cherry Red Records Stadium following a hard-earned draw against promotion contenders Notts County at Meadow Lane, which recorded a 4th clean in sheet in five games for County in League Two.
And Jardim wants the visitors to approach their assignment against the Dons with the same mindset and positivity.
“Last week was a good point away to a very good side,” said the Portuguese.
“We knew these run of games would be tough and especially those two games [Notts County and Wimbledon], but I think the performance from the last game gives us good confidence.
“We knew we were conceding too many goals but the last few results have shown we are improving in that side of our game.
“Invincibility lies on clean sheets and how you defend. If you defend well you become hard to beat, lose less games and that is something we are looking to do.
“That is down to the work we’ve been doing and the effort everyone is putting in. We know that it’s almost impossible to keep going and not concede goals with how strong this division is, but it’s about trying to find that balance between both phases of attacking and defending.
“Knowing we’re a bit more stable in defence, we need to keep building and moving forward in the attacking areas. That’s having more of the ball, controlling games much better and more consistently, creating more goal-scoring chances because that’s the football we’re looking to build here at the football club.
“We have a busy schedule coning up now and we have to keep the basics right. We have to keep going and keep driving for consistency.
“Consistency in this division is massive and something we are always striving for. We’ve shown glimpses of that with four clean sheets in our last five games and we’ve got to build on that now.”
On the challenge of facing Wimbledon, Jardim added: “Wimbledon are one of the main contenders in the division, so we know it is a huge game.
“They have a strong squad and have a good system in place. They have a clear way of playing and make it hard for any team when you play against them. They’re one of the consistent teams in the league of late this season, but also last season too.
“We’re expecting them to be on the front foot, try and create a lot of problems, but it’s down to us to have a clear idea of what to do and how to stop them.
“We have to compete first like we did the last game, and then anything can happen. I expect us to be ready and for us to cause them problems too.”
