Dave Robertson is confident Sligo Rovers are starting to gel and will kick on from a spirited 1-1 draw against St Pat's on Friday night.
The Bit O'Red remained bottom of the table after taking a point from Richmond Park but showed real signs of improvement in an assured, confident performance.
Home keeper Brendan Clarke was named man of the match after pulling off a couple of brilliant saves to deny Sligo the win, and Robertson is backing his men to kick on.
Kieran Sadlier and Jimmy Keohane with two wonderful saves either side of the break.
“Frustrated is probably the word," he told RTÉ Sport. "At 1-0 when we had those chances, Kieran Sadlier has had a great chance, Jim has followed it in, at 2-0 it makes it difficult.
"But I’ve spoken to the lads. We’re happy with where we’re going, we’re making progress, we’re coming together. To come to St Pat’s against a strong side and get a 1-1 draw is still a good result."
Sligo are joint bottom of the table with Longford - who host champions Dundalk on Saturday night - but Robertson saw enough from his team to have real belief they won't be sucked into a relegation scrap.
“[Being bottom] hurts and that’s a motivator we’ll use to keep on improving and get more points on the board," he added.
"The football we’re playing is good football. We’re here and we’re competing. We know that with a couple of little tweaks we’ll get where we need to be."
