Confidence is brimming at Doncaster and manager Grant McCann is convinced it can carry his side through to a strong finish to the campaign.
Doncaster beat AFC Wimbledon 1-0 to stretch their unbeaten run to five matches, with fears of being involved in a relegation fight now firmly banished.
“I think we’re playing with confidence and that helps,” he said. “We feel good about ourselves at the moment and we feel strong in all departments.
“The bench is strong and people are missing out on the matchday squad which is really helping us to keep the competition healthy.
“I think we have players in good form. I’m pleased with the whole team effort and the ruthlessness in both boxes – defending ours and attacking at the top end of the pitch.”
Hakeeb Adelakun scored the only goal of the game – extending his run to three in six matches after his January loan move from Lincoln.
Doncaster looked the more dangerous side throughout and handled late pressure from Wimbledon with relative ease.
McCann wants his side to deliver the best form in the division in the remaining games – and they are off to a good start as they sit second in the form table over the last five matches.
“I said a few weeks ago that we want to finish the season as strong as we can,” McCann said. “We had 18 games left. I showed those 18 games to the boys and told them I wanted them to finish top of that 18-game table.
“We’ve started that quite well with 11 points from the first five games and we just want to continue to build and see where we go.”
Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson was taking charge of his 100th game at the club but could only watch his side’s play-off aspirations continue to falter, with a third defeat from their last four league outings.
“We have got to keep working hard on the training pitch,” he said. “I know what we served up was not good enough and the supporters rightly showed their frustration. I’ve no issue with that.
“We deserved that reaction because it wasn’t good enough.
“The reality is that we’re in an OK position. We didn’t win but if we had we’d have been right under the tails of that top seven.
“We have to remember the situation we’re in and it’s not doom and gloom but today feels like a poor day because of the performance.
“We have a week on the training pitch and we have to be bang up for it. We need to attack the game next week and give the supporters a team they can get behind.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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