Marcus Bean reckons the Christmas period will make or break Brentford FC's season.
The Bees go into the festive season in fourth place, level on points with Shrewsbury in the final automatic-promotion spot.
Andy Scott's side travel to high-flyers Gillingham on Saturday, then could face three games in seven hectic days.
They host Bournemouth on Boxing Day before a trip to Exeter City two days later - but will only entertain Chesterfield at Griffin Park on January 3 if the Spirites lose their FA Cup replay with Droylesden.
And Bean, who put in a brilliant display in Saturday's 2-1 win over Bradford, believes they could blow their title hopes if they don't perform to their best.
He said: "If we do well over Christmas we can start to pull away from the sides below us.
"But if we don't, we're going to be chasing everyone else.
"We need to keep in touching distance with the leaders. We're in the hunt at the moment and everything's going to plan.
"Managers always say they don't look at the tables until after Christmas, so we've got to make sure we're still up there."
Bean bagged his third goal of the season in Saturday's win over Bradford - already beating his best-ever goal tally.
And he reckons the victory over Stuart McCall's men will have the rest of League Two taking note.
"I think our performances up and until now have already made teams aware of us," said Bean.
"But the three points against Bradford will definitely make teams think."
Meanwhile, Bees boss Andy Scott saluted the character his side showed to beat Bradford with a last-gasp goal after the heartache of seeing Bean's 88th-minute opener wiped out less than a minute later.
Nathan Elder's injury-time winner, merely seconds after Bradford's equaliser, showed a determination which bodes well for Brentford's promotion push.
Scott said: "You are at your most vulnerable after you score, we always say that. But we didn't close the ball down quick enough after the re-start.
"To bounce back and show the character we did was great. We didn't let our heads drop and we still believed we could win it.
"And the atmosphere at the end with the fans shows there is life in this club yet, and I want to be the man who takes us there."
