David Flitcroft insists he had no doubts that his Bury side would come good after watching them win 2-0 at home to Mansfield Town.
The Shakers had gone eight games without a win before their Boxing Day victory at Northampton.Ryan Lowe and Danny Mayor then scored late in each half against Mansfield to give Bury their first back-to-back league wins since September and put them back on the brink of the League Two play-off places.
"It's been a good Christmas," said manager Flitcroft. "The fans and the players deserve that.
"I asked them to sacrifice a lot in terms of family time and they've worked tirelessly.
"In the last three games we've got back to representing what the club's about.
"It was never in doubt. If you look at the performances, we were building towards back-to-back wins, which we've got now.
"It wasn't down to a lack of belief, it was just a matter of making better decisions against teams of Mansfield's style."
"In the first half, technically it was an excellent performance," he added. "We moved the ball superbly.
"Second half we had to out-battle them, which we didn't do in November. We didn't get to grips with the physicality.
"But we did here, we showed both sides of what we're about. The game management was great. It was a commanding performance."