Jamie Cureton has been involved in football long enough to not be getting carried away by the current run of form that his Cambridge City side is enjoying.
On 10 December the Lilywhites suffered a fourth defeat from their previous five outings when they lost 1-0 at home to Brentwood Town.
It was a result that left Cureton’s men languishing 16th in the Isthmian League North Division table with a gap of just five points to the bottom four.
Cambridge City celebrate Jack Thompson's winning goal against Haringey Borough. Picture: Iain Walker
But fast-forward to the present day and City find themselves up to eighth after a run of seven victories from eight league fixtures, with the only blemish on their copybook during that time being a 1-1 draw with Mildenhall Town.
The relegation zone is now a mere speck in City’s rearview mirror and instead over recent weeks they have been making good speed towards the play-offs.
After Saturday’s 2-1 win over Haringey Borough at the FWD/IP Community Stadium, City were only four points adrift of the top five positions – although that has since grown to six after Tuesday night’s results elsewhere.
Cambridge City manager Jamie Cureton. Picture: Keith Heppell
And yet, with 12 games still remaining, boss Cureton has insisted that it is too early to become fixated with any thoughts of promotion.
Asked if the play-offs was something for everyone on the outside to talk about, Cureton said: “Yes. The players might look at it, but when we’re in and working, that’s not being mentioned at the moment.
“There’s too many games (left to play) and too many things can happen. The teams above us might go on good runs and then we can’t catch them.
“For us it’s brilliant that we have something to chase and it keeps our season alive, but I’m not going to start saying we’re challenging for the play-offs.
“It’s every game as it comes, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing and then we’ll see what happens.
“Results have obviously happened (on Saturday) for us to go eighth and that will continue throughout the season – teams that are below us will think the same.
“If we get down to the final month and we’re still four points off then, yes, the target will be to go and chase it down, but at the moment too many things can happen.
“If we can keep nicking wins, we’re going to end up near anyway, but it’s not something we’re getting carried away with and we won’t get too cocky or confident.
“Every other result that goes on we can’t control. We can only control what we’re doing and we’ll keep plugging away.”
City’s weekend triumph over relegation-threatened Haringey, which came in front of 631 spectators in Sawston, made it 22 points collected from the last 24 on offer.
Considering that City took just 19 points from the 18 matches that came before that, it has been quite some turnaround.
Cureton always felt that this block of fixtures was going to be crucial – and he has credited the return of numerous players from injury as a key contributing factor in the positive results.
He added: “Ultimately for me it’s the squad. When we had our bad run of form we didn’t have a full squad – there was injuries and suspensions.
“Every interview I done back then I always said I was confident in the group because when everyone was back I believed we were a match for anyone in the league.
“That’s what it’s been about, the squad is back fully fit. We’ve had all the players here and I’ve been able to pick not just my strongest 11, but my strongest 16.
“When we have that, we’re a top team. And once you start to win – a bit like when you start to lose – it plays on your mind.
“I made a big thing about December with the run of games we had and with everyone being fit, I knew we could put ourselves in a much different position to where we were and come the new year things could look completely different.
“Fair play to the boys, they’ve given me everything in training and in games. That’s why we’ve had the run we’ve had and that’s now why the league looks so different.
“The group is in a good place, confidence is up and winning is a habit. We now don’t know when we’re beat and that’s credit to the group.
“We give them the information but ultimately they have to go out on the pitch and perform, which they’ve done.”
City fell behind after just four minutes against Borough when Zayshaun Asamoah’s deflected effort crept by James Philp.
However, the hosts were in front before the break thanks to their top two goalscorers.
Parity was restored in the 32nd minute by George Smith, who calmly slotted in his 15th goal of the campaign after being played clean through by Jack Thompson’s slide-rule pass.
And seven minutes later the provider turned scorer as Thompson fired home from close range after Samrai Gebrai’s initial attempt had been blocked.
City had a number of presentable chances to make life much more comfortable for themselves during the second half, but the final pass or finish lacked the necessary composure, while Alfie Mason was mightily unlucky with a curling effort from distance that cannoned off the upright.
Cureton said: “My only frustration is we could have won the game by more because we got ourselves into great positions but it’s the final ball or finish.
“That game could have looked very different and I said my bit at the end to the players. We’ve won, which is brilliant, but to make these games more comfortable and to take them away from teams we need to be just five per cent better at the top end of the pitch.
“It’s not a negative on the group because they’ve been outstanding, but we always have to look at ways of improving.
“Winning by the odd goal is brilliant, but it could be a lot easier and they could enjoy the game more. We’ve had to defend towards the end and dig in.
“If we want to keep winning and improving then killing games off is where we need to get better, which the players understand.
“They’re good lads and they all want to work hard to get better.”
City will have home advantage again on Saturday (25 January) when they play host to 18th-placed Wroxham.
