Joe Lolley led a Nottingham Forest comeback and claimed they are one of a group of Championship sides who believe they can chase down the top two teams West Brom and Leeds.
Lolley was on target twice as Forest laid down their promotion credentials at the City Ground against bottom-placed Luton.
It was a result that lifted Forest into fifth place - and if they can beat Reading at home on Wednesday then they will move to within two points of second placed Leeds.
Forest have earned 13 points from the last 15 since Boxing Day.
It has seen them lay the foundations of a bid to return to the Premier League, not that manager Sabri Lamouchi dares talk of such things knowing that it is nine years since Forest made the play-offs.
'I am not so crazy to imagine something that hasn't been possible in recent years,' he said when asked about how big Forest's prospects.
And he is right to be wary after a shoddy start from his side.
But Lolley was Forest's saviour after Luton had taken a shock lead through Harry Cornick when he latched on to a Dan Potts move in the 23rd minute.
The Forest forward admitted he needed a bit of good fortune thanks to a mistake from Hatters goal keeper Simon Sluga.
Lolley's weak shot went straight through Sluga's hands to present Forest with an equaliser.
But Lolley's second was spectacular as he found the net with a swerving effort from 20 yards that gave Sluga no chance.
Forest rubber stamped the result in the 89th minute when Lewis Grabban made it 15 for the season from the penalty spot after Sonny Bradley had handled Tiago Silva's free-kick in the Luton wall.
'The teams at the top probably feel a little more pressure,' said Lolley.
'There's a touch more freedom about us.
'Six or seven games ago the whole division was looking and thinking 'Is anyone going to catch the top two?'
'They didn't look like stopping.
'Now there's four or five teams looking and thinking 'Why not us?'. There's a lot of competition and a lot of points dropped.
'Our form is four wins and a draw, we have to keep going. We've got Leeds and West Brom to play next month and they'll be massive games.
'The tighter it becomes the bigger the games will become.'
Lamounchi would not be drawn on Forest's prospects or the possibility of a first signing of the January window with Huddersfield winger Adama Diakhaby, 23, expected join.
'Some people want to believe. But my job is too focus on the next game,' said Lamouchi.
'We deserved the three points but the game was not fantastic, although the reaction was good.
'I'm happy with the result. But we need to play much better. We want to see it exactly like Lolley in every game. Key players like that can make the difference any time they want.
'He was man of the match and I know his quality, everybody does, but all players from the squad are needed because the race is very long,
'I don't know why we started the game like this. We suffered a lot. In the second half we had a different commitment.
'The way we played in the first half, was totally opposite to the plan. We need to play with more confidence.'
Lolley believes this was his best display this season.
'In terms of productivity and the two goals it was perfect,' he added.
It was Luton's 10th away defeat in a row, but boss Graeme Jones saw some postitives - even though he knew Sluga's slip was a turning point.
Jones said: 'It was a soft finish in the end and that was disappointing.
'But I prefer to talk about the positives because I was really disappointed last week and here was the mentality I have been waiting for all season,.
'I felt a change in that way. We came with a belief we could get something.'