Ronnie Moore expects the League Two relegation battle to go "down to the wire" ahead of resurgent Hartlepool United's home clash with Mansfield Town.
Having looked certain to drop out of the Football League, back-to-back wins at Morecambe and Oxford United have seen Hartlepool move within four points of safety.
Moore has urged his side to keep proving people wrong, suggesting some rivals had already dismissed their chances of staying up.
"A lot of teams had written us off already," Moore is quoted as saying by the Hartlepool Mail.
"If you are Tranmere or others ahead of us then you were only looking at the teams above you because at one stage we did look dead and buried.
"Then all of a sudden they will be thinking, 'bloody hell, they have won again'.
"It then puts so much pressure on them, something we have had all season, but they haven’t.
"This battle will go down to the wire, there is no doubt about that."
Second-bottom Cheltenham Town have drawn their last three games and will attempt to secure their first win this month when they host Exeter City, while Tranmere host a Burton Albion side buoyed by a victory over Southend United in midweek which sent them five points clear at the top of the table.
York City and Carlisle United, who both hover precariously above the relegation zone, face Accrington Stanley and Morecambe respectively.
Second-placed Shrewsbury Town will attempt to keep their bid for automatic promotion on track when they host an Oxford side with just one league win in five matches and by no means safe.
Play-off hopefuls Bury and Southend welcome Northampton Town and Cambridge United respectively, while third-placed Wycombe Wanderers are not in action until they travel to Luton Town on Tuesday for a game which will see Kenilworth Road renamed the Prostate Cancer UK Stadium for one match to raise awareness of the condition.
John Still's Luton side are on a four-match losing streak and could be out of the top seven come kick-off, with Newport County and Plymouth Argyle both looking to apply pressure when they meet at Home Park on Saturday.
Stevenage welcome Dagenham and Redbridge to the Lamex Stadium, while Portsmouth will hope striker Matt Tubbs can return to haunt former club AFC Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow.