Richard Duffy says Notts County have the teams above them in their sights ahead of Saturday's visit of Morecambe.
The Magpies’ win at Carlisle on Tuesday night moved them within four points of Sky Bet League Two safety and they will look to take another step towards survival by beating the Shrimps.
And Duffy says Notts need to use the midweek victory to spur them on.
“We’ve got nine games to go and we can see the teams above us again,” said the Welshman.
“We knew going into Carlisle that it was our last crack and we had to sort it out before time runs out – we got three points and hopefully that spurs us on.
“Once you win a game you always look forward to the next one because you think ‘Let’s get another three points,’ and if we do we’ll have Morecambe looking over their shoulders again.”
Duffy admits the season has not gone the way he expected but says Notts can still end it positively.
“We’ve got to get ourselves out of a big hole,” he said. “It’s a big time for the football club.
“Going out of the EFL will impact on the whole city, not just Notts County, and that will be down to us so we have a big job to do.
“This season hasn’t panned out the way we wanted it to but we still have the chance to end it on a high and put smiles on faces.”
The 33-year-old impressed in Carlisle as he started for the first time since January and says he had to be patient as he waited for his chance to come.
“You have to keep on top of things because if people are out of form, injured or suspended, you can be back in,” said Duffy.
“If you don’t do yourself justice when called upon you only have yourself to blame.
“I made sure I kept training properly with a smile and doing things right.
“I’ve had to bide my time and I think the gaffer wanted a bit more know-how on Tuesday so hopefully I’ve shown him I can still do a job.”