Paul Hayes said Wanderers' stuttering form does not mean they have suddenly become a bad team overnight.

The Blues skipper admitted the side have been overachieving so far this season - but he believes their position of third in the table is justified.

Wanderers' free scoring form has taken a dip in recent weeks, having won once in the last six, failing to score in three of them and losing both of the last two.

But bullish Hayes said: "We are where we are at the moment because we're a good team. Just because we've lost two on the bounce doesn't change that. We need to go into every game believing we can get our confidence back to where we were around Christmas time."

The nine-goal top scorer added: "We've done incredibly well and at this moment in time we're probably overachieving - but it doesn't take away the fact we've got there through determination, our work rate and our togetherness.

"It's very disappointing to lose two on the bounce, especially at home. We've had a few words after the game, some home truths, and we need to rectify what's gone wrong in the last two games especially.

"These next 15 games are massive. One by one we'll knock them down, but we need to get back to full focus. We've got past our first target, which was to stay in this league by a certain number of points. We need to get to our second target of trying to get as many wins as possible from now until the end of the season."

Hayes said Blues were punished for their slow start in Saturday's defeat to Newport County, with Wanderers not getting into their regular rhythm until well into the second half.

They looked the brighter side once Fred Onyedinma had brought the scores level, but they were punished for failing to take their chances as Yan Klukowski scored his second of the afternoon to snatch the points for the Welsh side.

Hayes said the result showed there is a lesson for Wanderers to learn as they enter the final third of the campaign.

He said: "When Fred got his goal I thought we were on the front foot, but that's the way football goes. When your tails are up you have to finish a team off.

"It's a shame it's taken us until the last half an hour before we started playing. It took us 60 minutes to wake up - we didn't deserve to win."