BRYAN HUGHES believes Wrexham have secured a play-off spot but the Reds' boss refuses to rule his side out of title contention.

Saturday's 3-1 home win over Braintree leaves fourth placed Wrexham nine points ahead of Ebbsfleet, the team immediately outside the top-seven, with just four games to go.

Wrexham are only four points behind new leaders Salford, although competition for top spot is still fierce with Solihull Moors, Leyton Orient and Fylde in the running.

There is still a lot to play for but clinching a play-off berth is the priority for Hughes.

"I would always like us to look up, I don't want us to look behind," said Hughes.

"We put ourselves in this situation where we are, fourth in the league, and this positive result will give us a bit of confidence going into the last four games.

"I said three more points might guarantee us the play-offs, we have got that. It is not mathematical but I think it does where we are nine points clear of Ebbsfleet with four games to play.

"I think it will be a big ask of Ebbsfleet to catch us but you never know in this league.

"We are just going to take each games as it comes now."

Wrexham have 75 points and Hughes admits automatic promotion is not out of the question, although he feels his side will need to win to win their final four matches to stay in the hunt.

"I think if you want to aim towards top spot you need to win all the games," said Hughes.

"I had a target when I came here of high 80s, potentially 90, but with how competitive this league is now it might be a bit less than that.

"Orient have dropped points again, Salford have leap-frogged them.

"It is about getting form at the right time and Salford seem to have hit that.

"We have been stop-start over the last few weeks but now we are looking forward to the next four games.

"Whether it takes us up to first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh, as long as we are guaranteed a play-off place that is the main thing.

"That is progress for me."

Wrexham went into the Braintree clash on the back of four defeats in five matches, seemingly leaving their title ambitions in tatters on the back of last season's failure to make the top-seven following a woeful run-in.

But Hughes feels Saturday's win will be a confidence booster.

"We are going to try and win every game," said Hughes.

"We might have secured a play-off place, now it is about us building confidence. The result and performance will go a long way to building that with the players.

"I have talked many times about the mentality and what happened last year, it is important to have these lads with clear heads and focussed on what they need to do, and I thought they did that.

"They were really good at times, good to see us score goals off set-plays and we can look forward now and see what the next four games bring."

If they miss out on the title, Wrexham will avoid a preliminary play-off tie by finishing second or third and advance to a semi-final home game.

Wrexham boast the best home record in the division and Hughes would fancy his side's chances at The Racecourse.

"If we finish second or third, that will be a real positive going into a semi-final play-off to get to Wembley," said Hughes.

"We are top of the form table at home in this league, they are the positives and if we can manage to get one of them places that will be brilliant."

But Hughes could be without Jake Lawlor for the remaining games as the centre-back was taken off with a suspected dislocated shoulder early in Saturday's contest.

"It was disappointing to lose Jake," said Hughes.

"I think it is a dislocated shoulder, he has gone to hospital to get it put back in place so that might be the end of Jake's season."