West Ham United skipper Kevin Nolan wants to ensure Wednesday night's win over Hull City sparks another fine run of form over the closing weeks of the season.
The Hammers may not have been at their fluent best against the Tigers, but still took the points thanks to a Mark Noble penalty and a James Chester own goal.
Now, the east Londoners travel to Sunderland for a Monday night fixture and Nolan is eyeing a charge towards last season's points tally of 46.
He said: "I don't think Wednesday's result takes the pressure off us because we put pressure on ourselves to get the same points tally as last year or better.
"We knew that was going to be difficult with the situation we were in earlier in the season, due to ourselves but also due to the injuries and suspensions we had.
"We were delighted with the result against Hull after three losses on the spin. It was a massive win - our fourth in five home games - and it puts us three points behind Stoke in tenth place.
"Last season we didn't drop below 14th and had a nice Steady Eddie season. I think it would have been something similar or even better if we'd had everyone fully fit this season.
"No other team has had to deal with the volume of injuries we've had to key players, but we've dealt with it and we should be proud of what we've done with the squad.
"We can continue now to keep going, keep working hard and if we do that it'll get us to 40 points sooner rather than later."
Sam Allardyce looks on course to lead the Hammers to a second consecutive mid-table finish in the top flight and Nolan, who also played under the manager at Bolton Wanderers, believes he is laying the foundations for future success.
He added: "We finished tenth last year, and quite comfortably tenth. It really bugs me that people say he's [just] a manager to keep you in the Premier League.
"I don't see what other people are seeing. I'm fed up of trying to tell everyone what a top manager he is, his record is there for all to see and I think he gets unfair criticism. It's hard to win games in the Premier League and he knows how to win games.
"We've got to add to our squad. It's going to be a massive summer for Sam and his backroom staff to renew players' contracts or bring new players in.
"We've got to concentrate on making sure we are in the Premier League next year so he can start planning for getting in the top ten again and start pushing.
"When we get to the Olympic Stadium, given the time and given the resources he'll make sure we are pushing for European football by the time we get to that Olympic Stadium. I really believe that."