It has been evident for Phillip Dos Santos over the last few days and the visual clues were reminders of the most basic element in sports:

Winning is good.

And winning consistently is even better.

“You can see it in the group, and it can be contagious,” said Valour FC’s GM and head coach as his team, fresh from Sunday’s 3-1 decision over York United FC, travelled from a morning training session to Hamilton, where they will meet Forge FC Wednesday night.

“Now the guys need to understand this can’t be an occasional thing, but something you almost become obsessed with on a daily basis.”

Valour’s victory on Sunday moved them back into the Canadian Premier League’s playoff conversation as their three wins and four draws against four losses gives them 13 points – four back of the fourth and final playoff spot.

They now face the buzz saw that is Forge FC, a team that has posted four straight victories and is unbeaten in its last five matches. On top of that, they have out-scored their opposition 14-3 in their four-match win streak.

Still, what has been really important for Valour since Sunday’s win is how they reacted to the success and then got back to work. That’s part of what Dos Santos and his staff are trying to build with Valour FC, and the process has been tedious at times.

The cold, hard truth: Valour hasn’t posted back-to-back victories since a 3-0 decision over HFX Wanderers was followed by a 4-2 win over Cavalry FC last October 26-30.

In 11 matches this season the club has managed points in successive games just once, with a 6-1 win over Atlético Ottawa in late April followed by a tie with Wanderers and a 1-0 victory over York.

“It’s good that we were able to get three points on the first game of this road trip and a difficult one for us because it also takes a bit of pressure off for the next game,” Dos Santos said. “But now we all want more and we’re targeting coming out of here (the two-match road trip) with more. That’s what we’re targeting.

“I also want us to be a team that wins with maturity and that it becomes part of the DNA of our club – that we enjoy it, but then are able to turn the page fast and move on to the next one.”

That was certainly the message from centre back Andrew Jean-Baptiste after Sunday’s win when he stated:

“We want more. We’re hungry. The way we started (the season) wasn’t exactly the most-ideal situation. Coming off our last three home games (one draw and two losses) was the worst-case scenario. It just left us hungry for more because we know we’ve left those home games unfulfilled, so now we’re practically in ‘revenge mode’, so to say.
Now we’re looking for blood no matter who it’s against”

That kind of commentary was music to Dos Santos’ ears.

“We know the club has gone four years where it’s always been a grind and every season it seems we’re catching up and every win is so valuable,” he said. “A culture of winning takes time and it takes winning consistently to be able to reach that. Once you get one, you have to be hungry for the second and be diligent in preparing for it.

“We’re going to the house of a team that is in very good form, that has scored 14 games in their last four league games. We all know it’s a team we need to respect, a lot, but we can’t fear them.

“Developing a winning culture can’t just be invented. The only way to develop a winning culture it is simply by winning. That’s it. There’s no other way.”

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‘V’ NOTES

–Valour will be without centre back Rocco Romeo, as he will sit out Wednesday’s match due to yellow-card accumulation.

-MF Matthew Catavolo also won’t be available after his stint with the Canadian U-20 team fell to Guatemala in penalties in the Concacaf U-20 Round of 16 on Sunday. Catavolo was scheduled to fly back to Montreal on Tuesday.

“We felt that emotionally these competitions take away a lot from a player, especially with the disappointment they had,” said Dos Santos. “I’ve spoken to Matthew and I felt that, with us having three days off after this game, it would be better for him to get some rest at home and then meet up with us in Winnipeg on Monday morning.”