Dave Challinor challenged his Stockport players to keep standards high in their quest for Championship football next season after a 3-1 comeback win over Rotherham.
Mallik Wilks put the Millers ahead at Edgeley Park but Jack Diamond levelled before half-time and Brad Hills and Kyle Wootton completed the turnaround.
Despite all but securing a League One play-off spot, and moving within five points of second-placed Wrexham, Challinor warned his players they must replicate their second-half performance to achieve their ambitions.
He said: “I thought we were flat first half, and when you concede a goal in the manner that we did that only makes it flatter.
“The second half was miles better and that’s what we need to stick to – that’s my message at the end to the players.
“Regardless of what happens this season, whether we stay where we are, whether we get a play-off place and win, whether we get a play-off place and lose, whether we don’t make the play-offs, or we finish second, we’ve got to do it by being us and almost falling on our swords.
“We get the opportunity to do what we did at the end in terms of keeping the ball, and if players aren’t of a nature that want to run then they’re playing for the wrong manager, and that’s something that I’ll never, ever stray away from.
“First half I thought we strayed away from that a little bit. I needed us to look like a team that had everything to play for and I didn’t really see that.”
Rotherham interim boss Matt Hamshaw lamented a key moment with the Millers not being awarded a penalty when Wilks went down in the box, immediately before Wootton scored County’s third on the break.
He said: “I thought first half we started really well. I spoke to the players at half-time and I thought that we got a little bit complacent with the things that we spoke about and stopped doing them, which I re-emphasised second half. We knew they’d come out and have a reaction and they did.
“It’s really difficult because for me, it should be a penalty and it should be 2-2 and then they counter-attack. I’ve been told that every contact in the box isn’t a penalty, but when you’ve got Sam Nombe stood there waiting for a slide across to tap it in if not, it’s a little bit frustrating.
“It’s hard for me to comment on every decision because I’d probably be here for three days. You’re sometimes on the right end of them, you’re sometimes on the wrong end of them, but I just felt that some of the key decisions went against us.”
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