Haji Mnoga says Salford City are “very confident” of overcoming Grimsby and reaching the League Two play-off final at Wembley because of their home form.
Salford finished with the third-best home record during the regular season and take a 2-1 lead into Friday’s semi-final return at Peninsula Stadium.
Mnoga believes this makes them optimistic of reaching Wembley and taking another step towards League One.
The Tanzania defender told Radio Manchester: “I think when you have records like that, you feel very confident.
“The fans as well have been brilliant at home. They’ve got behind us, they’ve helped us out a lot. I think that’s been a massive part of it.
“When everyone is trying to make it feel like a fortress – the players, the fans, the staff, everyone that’s involved – I think that really helps.
“The gaffer was saying to us [at Grimsby], he didn’t want to lose, he didn’t want to draw, he wanted to win.
“We were able to go and do that, so it’s our advantage. But we can’t get too ahead of that because it’s only 2-1, one goal to us. We have to go out and make another statement.”
Salford have also won their past seven home games, keeping five clean sheets, and a sixth would guarantee victory over the two legs.
“When you’ve got five clean sheets, you look at the back four and the goalkeeper,” said Mnoga. “But as a team, as a collective, we can all be proud of that. So it helps us go to the next game feeling confident.
“Obviously we just fell short of automatic promotion, so now we’ve got our next goal to tick off, and I can see us doing it.
“I’m very confident in the team and the squad we have.”