There was something fitting about AFC Wimbledon manager Neal Ardley choosing to salute two unsung heroes following his side's win over Hartlepool on Saturday.
The victory, far more comprehensive than the 2-0 scoreline suggests, gave Dons three league wins in a row for the first time in more than two years.
Yet on a day when strikers Lyle Taylor, Adebayo Azeez and Adebayo Akinfenwa were only denied a sack-load by the inspired goalkeeping of Hartlepool's Trevor Carson and a harsh refereeing decision, while the defence barely broke sweat, it seemed appropriate to hail the two water carriers of central midfield, Jake Reeves and Danny Bulman.
It was these two who won everything in the engine room, pressing and harrying, seemingly regaining possession every time it was lost, keeping Dons on the front foot and allowing them to dominate throughout.
Ardley agreed it was this pair, and Reeves particular, who were the bedrock of a win which carried Dons to within a point of the play-off places.
"If there is a fitter more aerobic pair than Bully (Bulman) and Reevesy (Jake Reeves) in the league I would like to see them," he said.
"They are ridiculous in terms of their stats and could run the yo-yo test into the floor they cover so much ground.
"And their work-rate gives wide players a chance to join in and go forward because they know they will cover for them.
"Last 10 minutes we just tried to get them to sit a little bit and we brought Jake off because we felt he deserved a standing ovation. At times he was head and shoulders the best player out there."
Hartlepool's woeful showing, manager Ronnie Moore showed more passion in a prolonged on pitch discussion with the referee after the final whistle than his team did over the 90-plus minutes, means probably not too much should be read into this third successive win and that full assessment of Ardley's men should stiffer tests down the line.
That said, there is plenty to encourage the men of Kingsmeadow at the moment. Taylor, who at the beginning of the season was often the odd one out among the strikers, is now the man in form with four goals in their hat-trick of wins.
Azeez too has been keeping Bayo 'The Beast' Akinfenwa and Ardley's other summer signing Tom Elliott on bench-warming duty suggesting real competition for places.
The home defeat to Morecambe aside the defensive unit looks stable, something the imminent return of James Shea will only enhance and the encouraging re-emergence if Callum Kennedy has softened the blow of losing Andy Barcham to injury.
Reluctant to get over excited as usual, Ardley nevertheless sees great potential in the current crop.
"I might treat myself to a glass of wine tonight", he added.
"I think we have got a really good team here. I'm not going to go shouting it from the rooftops because I like to tell us in the camp, but I ask people go away and tell us how many times have you watched us this season and gone they were better than us. For me it is probably twice all season."
