Brentford Manager Mark Warburton said his side were now in a mini league of four teams for two Play-Off spaces with four games of the Sky Bet Championship season remaining.
The Bees play Sheffield Wednesday this evening, Tuesday April 14, and then face matches against Bolton Wanderers, Reading and Wigan Athletic before the end of the regular season.
They sit seventh in the table behind sixth-placed Ipswich Town on goal difference and are one point worse off than Derby County, who are fifth.
The final team fighting for the final two Play-Off spots are Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are behind The Bees on goal difference.
Mark, speaking to Bees Player yesterday, said it now looked like AFC Bournemouth, Norwich City, Watford and Middlesbrough would fight for the top two automatic promotion places with then two from the next four for the Play-Offs.
The Brentford boss said his side were targeting four wins to get to 83 points but said all teams had tough fixtures with teams including Huddersfield Town, Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest all facing the top eight.
“A neutral will look at it as two mini leagues of four at the top,” said Mark.
“There will be two teams in the Play-Offs from four.
“Derby have a similar run to ourselves.
“Wolves play Middlesbrough tomorrow and then play Ipswich and points have to be dropped.
“There are no easy games, we have tough ones, Derby go to Huddersfield, Ipswich play Blackburn and Forest.
“All we can do is try and win as many games as we can.
“It might be 80 points from the Play-Offs, which is incredible, but if that is what it is, that is what it is.
“We are capable of achieving 83 points, that will be enough.”
Brentford drew 1-1 with Derby on Saturday, conceding a stoppage time equaliser after dominating the match.
Mark said after the game that there had been a heated conversation in the dressing room and expanded on that when speaking to Bees Player.
He said the group had taken the positives from the performance rather than concerns about not winning.
“I used the term heated words after Saturday and there were heated words because the players are not happy with a point when they have played well,” said Mark.
“That shows how far this group has come, they are hungry for success.
“They played really well on Saturday, it was a good, positive performance, they dominated it and should have taken all three points.
“We will take the positives from that and prepare for Sheffield Wednesday.
“It was good for the players to hear the praise they got from [Derby boss] Steve McClaren and in the media.
“It was nice to see the written press and it gives the boys belief.
“It was a tough place to go, a Premier League set-up, we delivered a really good performance.
“What goes on in the dressing room will remain private but I have always said it is good to talk.
“We go to the next level when we talk as a group.
“We were frustrated not to get the just rewards.”
Brentford were without striker Chris Long on Saturday and Mark said he was with Everton for treatment.
“We will see how Chris is,” said the Brentford boss.
“We are waiting for feedback from Everton.
“We look at having four game left and hopefully seven and it is about being as best prepared as possible.
“All loan players are not ours and we give all players the best care.
“The medical team are working with Everton and if he is fit and well then great.”
Mark said if Chris wasn’t available there were still options in attack.
Andre Gray has scored 16 goals for The Bees this term while Jota and Alex Pritchard have ten each from attacking midfield roles, Stuart Dallas has eight, Jonathan Douglas seven and Jon Toral six.
“Chris Long has done a great job,” said Mark.
“We also have Stuart Dallas, when I first saw him he scored two goals from centre forward.
“We have options and I like the fact we don’t have an out and out striker sometimes.
“That poses teams problems.
“Andre has done a tremendous job, I am happy with Chris Long and I am happy with what we have.
“Players have to be intelligent enough and technically good enough to play in a role without a main striker.
“Tommy Smith, Jon Toral, Alan judge, Alex Pritchard, Jota can play in those roles.
“Traditional defenders want a target to mark.
“We pose more problems with players in holes, extra width and creating from there.
“Players have freedom to express themselves.
“If you have too big a squad there is no pathway to the First Team.
“Players have to be able to work hard on the training pitch and have a chance of playing in the First Team.
“You can lose impact if you don’t.
“We have a tight squad, we are fit and we score late goals.
“The players know what they have to do and we are within touching distance of a very good season.”
Sheffield Wednesday drew 1-1 with Charlton Athletic on Saturday with Caolan Lavery scoring the goal.
Mark said Wednesday had an excellent goalkeeper – Kieran Westwood – and players including Chris Maguire and Lewis McGugan who could pose problems.
He added they had a physical threat and a trick playing surface at Hillsborough would also need to be overcome.
“Sheffield Wednesday will pose a tough challenge,” said Mark.
“They drew with Charlton at the weekend but had a lot of chances.
“They are physically proficient with talented players like Maguire and McGugan.
“They are organised with an aerial threat.
“They can be direct and they can play and they have an excellent goalkeeper.
“It will be a tough challenge.
“The pitch is a question mark, it is not the best but we have to deal with it, other teams do.
“Tomorrow is a very difficult challenge.”
Mark said his message would not change.
“Our players are capable of dealing with the football but we won’t take unnecessary risks,” he said.
“Sometimes there is more harm than good when you change what you do.
“We will be positive and try to impose ourselves on the game.
“It is the same rhetoric every week.”
Bees Player subscribers can see a full video interview with Mark Warburton here.