Jake Bidwell said the result was all-important after Brentford made it eight wins from nine by beating Notts County at Meadow Lane.
Will Grigg scored the only goal of the game just before half time as The Bees continued their fine run.
Notts County had plenty of the ball, and chances, but Brentford kept them out, their sixth clean sheet in seven games.
Jake, speaking to Bees Player after the match, said it would probably not have been much of a game to watch and Brentford produced a “scrappy” performance but the win was the main thing.
He said it was important to beat County, who are bottom of Sky Bet League One, after taking four points from promotion rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers and Peterborough United in the last week.
“It was scrappy but we got the three points, that is the main thing,” said Jake.
“I am sure wasn’t pretty but we got the points to back up the points in the last week.
“We are all very pleased.
“It was difficult to play on the pitch.
“We want to get the ball down and play, it made it difficult but we dug in and ground out a result.
“We had to work hard defensively, especially in the first half.
“They are fighting for their lives; we knew they would come at us.
“We stood up to the challenge but Will scored a great goal to get us the result.”
Notts County presented a defensive challenge for The Bees.
They had one striker – Danny Haynes – and three in behind that popped up in different areas.
Jake said Brentford knew Notts County would play like that and had prepared for it but they did pose problems.
Jake was up against winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce and said the nippy wide man made life difficult.
“It is difficult when players pop up in different areas,” said the left back.
“We highlighted that before the game, we knew that would happen.
“They did cause us a couple of problems in the first half but Will got us off the hook at the other end.
“He took the pressure off.
“I have played against Campbell-Ryce a few times, he is a good player, he is sharp.
“He can go inside and outside, that makes it twice as hard for a full back.”
Jake said Brentford’s defensive record – two goals conceded in seven games – was not just down to the defence.
He said the strikers scoring helped the back four and they tried to repay the favour by keeping the opposition out.
“A clean sheet gives the lads at the other end a chance,” said Jake.
“We only need one goal.
“It is not just the back four; we defend as a team and attack as a team.
“Will takes the pressure off by scoring and we try to keep the pressure off them by keeping clean sheets.”
The win gave Brentford seven points in a week after a draw against Wolves and a 3-2 win over Peterborough.
Jake said Brentford would probably have taken that before they started the week and no team in League One picked up more in the last seven days.
The Bees are now fourth in League One, behind third-placed Preston North End on goal difference and six points back from Wolves and Leyton Orient.
Jake said Brentford had a good platform, after a great run in November, but had to build on it.
“We would have taken seven points from this week before we started, we’d have been happy with that,” he said.
“We played probably the two favourites and we can be pleased with the week we have had.
“We highlighted before these results that we would have liked to have had more points than we did.
“We have to carry on, if we have bad results, November won’t mean anything.
“We have a good foundation with a good November.
“The Christmas period is always important, whatever league you are in, whatever year it is.
“We want to build on our good November.”
A full post-match interview with Jake Bidwell is available here for Bees Player subscribers.