Bristol City boss Liam Manning believes his side remain in a strong position in the battle for a Championship play-off place after taking a hard-earned point in a 1-1 draw at QPR.
It came after back-to-back wins and meant the Robins, who remain fifth in the table, have taken seven points from a possible nine over the past week.
With four matches of the season remaining, they look well on course for a top-six finish.
Manning said: “We challenged the lads after the international break and said ‘Look, eight games, two blocks of four, can we, after the first block of four, give ourselves something to play for going into the final stretch?’
“And when you look at the week the lads have had, it’s been terrific to sustain the levels and the challenge. I’d have taken two wins and a draw from the week.
“The lads have made huge strides. Four to go, let’s see how we go.”
Karamoko Dembele put QPR ahead by heading home Nicolas Madsen’s cross, before George Earthy equalised on the half-hour mark after being set up by Max Bird.
Both teams created chances during the second half but were unable to find another goal.
“Not quite the performance level we’ve shown recently, but to top the week off still being unbeaten I think is a real big positive,” said Manning.
“We started slow, they started well, so we take the point and move on.”
QPR boss Marti Cifuentes felt his injury-hit team deserved credit for picking up another vital point.
It took them to the 50-point mark generally regarded as being enough to avoid relegation, and given that they are eight clear of 22nd-placed Cardiff and have a vastly superior goal difference, they look safe.
“I definitely hope so. This 50 points has been the first target. It looks good,” Cifuentes said.
“The distance is eight points plus the goal difference, so it’s kind of nine. So we’re in a very good position.
“But that’s all I’m going to say about this. We have four games left and need to keep pushing.
“Unless I am very bad with maths, I think there is still a possibility to go down so it’s not done yet.
“The reality is that usually 50 points gives safety almost every season. It looks good at the moment. It (relegation) would mean a lot of things going wrong for us and the rest of the teams picking up a lot of good results.”
