DINO Maamria believes Vics' derby success puts them ahead of Alty in the race to avoid relegation.

"This game was about more than just the three points," he said after seeing his side beat their bitter rivals 2-1.

"I could have stood here and played it down as just one game but to beat Altrincham and pick up our first away win of the season is a fantastic gift for the fans."

Lucas Akins netted his first goal for the club to cancel out Chris Senior's shock opener before Ryan Brown swerved a free kick around the Robins' wall to give Vics the lead before the break.

But Maamria, ever the perfectionist, reckons Vics can play better.

"I'm over the moon with a win," he told the Guardian. "But I've told the players that they can improve their performance a lot on what we saw today.

"I think we wasted chances to put the game beyond them and then defensively we gifted them too many openings."

He was full of praise for Michael Byrne after the midfielder completed his first full game for almost three months, as well as winger Danny Williams.

"They were fantastic," he said, before revealing how he had plotted to beat Alty in training this week.

He added: "We moved the ball from back to front quickly to put their two central defenders under immediate pressure.

"I just feel that they are a bit static at the back at times and we could exploit that."

Maamria was quick to point out that his players could not enjoy their success too much.

"We will stay up," he promised.

"But there is still an awful lot of work to do and we can't get carried away.

"I still intend to make changes when the transfer window opens next week."