JOAO Carlos says everyone at Grays Athletic is attempting to block out the negativity associated with recent results ahead of an important run of fixtures.

Having taken four points from their opening two matches, Grays were beaten in their next four league games.

Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Brentwood Town stopped the rot.

Carlos, 29, is currently serving a suspension following the red card he picked up against Maldon & Tiptree at the s tart of the month.

But he says everyone at the club remains confident and says the upcoming run of fixtures - which includes games against Mildenhall Town, Soham Town Rangers and Great Wakering Rovers - represents a good chance to get back on track after Saturday’s win.

Saturdays result was massive for us as we needed that confidence booster to push forward as a team,” said the wide man. “We had a game plan and all we had to do was implement that on the pitch but overall it was important that we had that change around to kick us on.

“I know prior to the game we hadn’t had great results but we had to block out that negativity and it was only a matter of time before we kick started again.

“When results are not going your way and you have a young squad heads can sometimes drop and people stop expressing themselves as much.

“I’ve always said hard work beats talent, and we have had to go back to the basics and work hard to rebuild confidence and express ourselves again.

“To achieve great things a win here and there is not good enough. We have sat down together and spoken and everyone knows we have a job to do and consistency plays a big part towards our end goal.

“The upcoming run of games are the sort of games we need to win if we want to achieve our goal. The boys know how important these type of games are and it’s so easy to slip up or get complacent.

“Now we are building momentum and if we go to these games with the strong mentality as we did Saturday I’m sure we would come away as a happy squad.”

Michael Mignot’s goal shortly after half-time against Brentwood lifted Grays up to 11th in the standings.

Although that is not high enough for Carlos, who formerly played for Dagenham & Redbridge.

The ex Concord Rangers winger is aiming to finish the campaign in the play-off positions.

And he remains confident the group is confident of achieving their goals.

“I have no doubt that finishing in the play-offs is possible with the squad we have,” said Carlos.

“We just need to be consistent and grind results out. Everyone knows in this league when you win four or five games consistently you can be up there quickly.

“If we keep the same focus and the will to work hard for each other, I’m positive we will achieve our target.”