Barrow Raiders face a string of games against leading rivals for the final play-off place in the Betfred Championship.
They start this Sunday with a trip to Sheffield Eagles, followed by a home clash against seventh-placed Bradford Bulls, before a meeting with fast-reviving Widnes Vikings at the Summer Bash.
With 18 games played of a 27-match season, the Raiders currently occupy the sixth and final play-off place.
Popular close season signing Anton Iaria believes recent back-to-back victories over York City Knights and Whitehaven were very impressive and give the Raiders the perfect platform to build from heading into those games.
He says: “With our 1-17, and even the guys that aren’t playing every week, we’re really strong across the board. It’s such a good team to be a part of.
“There’s so much quality in the group, and we’ve had two wins in a row now, which is always nice.
“We’ve got really high standards of ourselves, and that Monday night game against Halifax wasn’t a good reflection of us at all.
“We had to bounce back quickly, and not a lot of people tipped us to win in York, but we’re always confident that we can do a job in every game.
“Hopefully we can keep building until the end of the season and see how far we get.”
The Raiders have won 11 of their opening 18 matches to give themselves a good chance of reaching the Championship play-offs, matching the efforts of fellow Cumbrians Whitehaven last season.
Italian international Iaria, 26, has been a regular starter with 18 of his 21 appearances coming from kick-off and he has scored three tries.
Despite impressing in recent weeks, he admits each game will continue to take on more importance as attention turns towards the business end of the season.
“I’m loving it now that summer’s here, and the ground isn’t just mud. There’s lots of good vibes, we’re all enjoying our rugby and we’re posting plenty of points.
“We don’t talk about the play-offs specifically, but everybody knows that things are starting to heat up.
“Pretty much every week now is do-or-die if you want to secure a place in that top six.
“All we can do is work hard in training and take each game as it comes. We all work hard in defence and the rest takes care of itself.”
