The past month has been unusually hectic for Msida St Joseph. The sudden departure of former coach Patrick Curmi was seen as hampering their task of making it to the Championship Pool.
A month later, and inspired by some excellent management from stand-in coach Joe Abdilla, the Saints are well on their way to achieving their pre-season target of landing the sixth and final berth in the Championship Pool.
Sunday's 1-0 win over Qormi stretched the Saints' unbeaten run to four matches and, more importantly, increased their lead over seventh-placed Marsaxlokk to eight points with only four matches to go before the end of the first phase.
Abdilla admitted that the victory over Qormi was another sig-nificant step towards top-six football but called on his players to keep their focus.
"Beating Qormi was a massive boost for us," Abdilla said.
"We went into the match fully aware that a defeat would have put our nearest rivals Marsaxlokk and Ħamrun Spartans back in contention. The players turned in an extraordinary performance to close in Championship Pool football," Abdilla told The Times yesterday.
"It's true that we are in a strong position in the table but we certainly can't relax before mathe-matical certainty is secured. We are not there yet.
"We have four matches to play and all our energies are focused on our next assignment against Valletta.
"We need two more points to make sure of a top-six berth and the sooner we get them, the better for everyone."
Abdilla certainly could not have hoped for a better start to his first spell as coach of a Premier League team.
The former Valletta player, who has been a member of Msida's technical staff for the past two years, has not lost a game since replacing Curmi last month as Msida chalked up three wins and a draw.
He refuses to take credit for Msida's stunning form of late, opting instead to laud his players for their spirited displays.
"I'm really pleased with how things have worked out for me so far," Abdilla said.
"Since taking full control of the team, we are still unbeaten and that has given me immense satisfaction. However, all the praise should go to the players who, despite all the talk and controversies that engulfed the club in recent weeks, they stayed focused and responded with some exceptional perform-ances.
"We are now on the verge of reaching a very important objective for our club. We have a number of tough matches coming up against Valletta, Ħamrun, Sliema and Marsaxlokk.
"The pressure is certainly on us but we have been in this situation before. I'm confident that the players will again show the determination that has brought Msida the excellent results we have had lately."