Jake Taylor says he and his teammates will be going into their match with Port Vale on Tuesday night full of confidence following a run of 11 games unbeaten in Sky Bet League Two.
Port Vale will provide a strong test though as they have only been beaten once at home all season and sit just five points outside the play-off places.
“I think any game at this stage of the season will be tough,” said Jake. “They are a good team and their home record is very good. So, it is important to give them respect and do our homework on them. We have been playing some good stuff recently so we will be high on confidence going into that game looking to come back with three points.
“We have been on a really good run. We have started the year really well, but it is important to build on that. There are still plenty of games to be played so as long as we can keep on picking up points we are going to put ourselves in a really good position.”
City also keep on picking up clean sheets – 15 in total in League Two this season, which is more than any other team in the top four tiers of English football. Jake says this gives them a good basis to win games from, especially away from home where they have recently been victorious at Salford, Forest Green Rovers and Grimsby Town, all by 1-0 scorelines.
“We build a performance of our defensive basis,” he said. “We have kept a lot of clean sheets this season and that has been well documented and everyone, all over the pitch, puts in a good shift for that. So, if you can continue to keep a clean sheet and nick a goal here and there then you win the majority of your games. It is something we pride ourselves on. Sweenz (Pierce Sweeney) made a great block in our last game, Azzer (Aaron Martin) made plenty of blocks this season and Parksey (Tom Parkes) has done really well. So, if we can continue doing that then we will be in a good position.
“We want to score more goals and make it a little bit more comfortable for us and people watching, but as long as you are winning game it doesn’t really matter how you are winning them at this stage of the season.”