Boss Steve Cooper pointed to the character and composure of his Nottingham Forest players as they secured a big 2-0 win at fellow promotion-chasers Blackburn Rovers.
But he played down the importance of moving into the play-off spots for the first time this season as the Reds climbed to sixth.
A coolly-taken James Garner strike and a Brennan Johnson penalty clinched three points for the visitors at Ewood Park.
But in a frantic and end-to-end Championship clash which saw Darragh Lenihan sent off for the hosts, Cooper’s side also managed to keep their heads amid the frenzy.
“It doesn’t really mean anything at this stage. There’s no prizes for that now,” the Forest head coach said of moving into the top six.
“We just want to get ready for Stoke on Saturday. I watched them play last night and thought they were excellent, and they’ve got an extra day’s rest than us.
“We’ve got to get back on the bus as quick as we can, get back to Nottingham, put this behind us and get ready for the next one - and we will be.”
The Reds had missed chances to break into the play-off places before, most recently when they lost to Cardiff City.
But Cooper added: “It’s not something I’ve really thought about too much. You just want to concentrate on the process of preparing for games and then trying to deliver when it counts. We did that tonight.
“We knew we had to do certain parts of the game really well.
“It was a tough Championship game, but we stood up to it and we showed the quality in the game to score the goals - and should have scored more.
“I’m really pleased with the togetherness.
“We’ve got so many young players in the team, with Brennan, Djed (Spence), Jimmy and Keinan (Davis). To show the maturity they did in some of the treatment that was going on in the game, it’s good learning for us.
“We need to reflect on that tomorrow, but get ready for Stoke at the City Ground.”
Great work from Davis had set Cooper’s side on their way in the first half when he played in Garner, who showed nerves of steel to dummy to shoot before firing beyond Thomas Kaminski.
They missed good chances to increase that lead, including through Davis and substitute Sam Surridge. But the latter was felled in the closing minutes, with Johnson expertly burying the spot-kick to wrap up the result.
“We more than deserved the win,” Cooper said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. Where Blackburn are in the league at this stage of the season means they do a lot of things right.
“When you come to their place, you know you’re going to be in for a tough game.
“First half, both teams were fighting for rhythm in the game.
“Keinan did brilliant for the first goal, and did brilliant to find Jim once he got there. Jim did so well in opening up the goal with a little bit of composure and a great finish.
“Keinan probably should have put us 2-0 up before half-time. I know he was disappointed at half-time that he hadn’t scored.
“It was just a case of keeping going.
“Second half, especially after they went to 10 men, really we should have run away with it.
“We could and should have scored four or five, but we didn’t quite show the composure and decision-making that we did for the first goal.
“But we kept getting in. Sam won the penalty, Brennan put it away, and we managed the game out really well.”
