Tadgh Furlong feels the Lions created "a small bit of momentum again" with defeat of Crusaders on Christchurch, but the Leinster tight-head is fully aware more bumps lie waiting on a tough road ahead.
Furlong was brilliant on Saturday morning, more than matching All Blacks Joe Moody and Wyatt Crockett in the scrum and further strengthening his claims for Test start.
The Leinster man said his team took heart from an improved performance, and are aiming for more.
"Everyone is delighted to bounce back as a group, and delighted to show a bit more fluency in our play," he said.
"There's a fair bit more to work on but I think there's definitely signs of improvement there.
"The boys ran the lineout really, really well. Scrum-wise there's a bit to improve on.
"It probably wasn't as clean as we'd have liked at times, but you're crossing into the southern hemisphere; you're being exposed to things you wouldn't be used to in Europe.
"It's good to have footage there against a probable All Blacks starting front row... to review and work on."
After the loss to the Blues, the Lions camp was swamped by negativity.
The nature of that defeat had many predicting a disastrous tour with no hope of Test glory, but Furlong believes they've steadied the ship and can keep building towards the first meeting with New Zealand on 24 June.
"It's early," Furlong stressed. "Because you're playing games, two a week, you don't get a massive amount of time on the training paddock.
"The review is really important. The quality of players within our group are good enough to adapt their game.
"It was an important win, especially with the result midweek. It creates a small bit of momentum again, but the turnaround time is short. You're going to have to back up a performance with a performance and improve if we want to really compete."
