The Magpies have lost just once in the last 11 games and are flying upwards towards the promotion places.

A win against Bournemouth on Monday evening would see Steve Cotterill's men climb into the top three for the first time since August.

Despite a fixture build up, the team has been putting in some fully committed, hard working performances.

This has affected the players, admitted Mike Edwards, and they have welcomed their extra few days off this week to recover from a hectic few weeks.

He explained: "It's definitely been tough, we've had a few midweek games which have taken their toll on the lads.

"We've been playing catch up but it's obviously great that we've managed to get up there with our games in hand.

"We've got to look forward to the Bournemouth game, have a bit of a rest before then and push on from there."

He added: "We've got the games in hand but there's a long way to go.

"We're still aiming for that top spot and that's what we'll keep doing.

"We've got to keep digging in, getting the wins and hopefully it'll drop for us.

"We've got to win as many games as we can and keep looking up.

"It's very pleasing that we've been on that run but even more pleasing that we're getting wins and not just draws.

"That's catapulted us up there quicker than we wanted to and we'll keep going until the end."

A key aspect of the push towards League One has been the team's defensive armour, which hasn't been penetrated in the most recent four outings.

The centre-back paid tribute to the whole of the team, not just the rearguard.

He said: "We're pleased with that as a back five and as a team, because it starts with the boys up front.

"I think Ben Davies was playing as left back for the last 20 minutes against Chesterfield, they were throwing everything at us.

"That's our job, to keep Kasper's job as quiet as possible and we're doing our best to make sure that we don't concede."