Luke enjoying his second spell at Town
Luke Rodgers reckons Shrewsbury Town's next two matches against the teams which currently make up the bottom two in League One are the most important since he returned to the club.
Town head to second-bottom Scunthorpe United on Saturday before hosting basement boys Hartlepool United the following weekend.
The excellent New Year's Day win at Coventry City lifted Shrewsbury seven points clear of the relegation zone with Rodgers, who celebrated his 31st birthday that day, stressing they need to keep playing well to continue moving in the right direction.
"I feel the team's getting stronger at the right time," said Rodgers. "These next two games are more important than any game since I've been here. They're six point games and if you win you're constantly pulling away from these two teams.
"Everyone knows the importance of it and I feel we're coming into the games at the right time.
"The table looks better but we're not where we want to be.
"The first day I came into the team at Leyton Orient I knew there were some really good players here and everyone's now starting to believe, including me, that we're not a bottom four or five team."
Rodgers' current loan period from Portsmouth runs until mid-January when it will be turned into a permanent deal until the end of the season.
He added: "I know that I'm staying until the end of the season and we'll see what happens after that."