Crawley assistant manager Paul Raynor believes the League Two leaders are in a great position to achieve back-to-back promotions after they rounded off 2011 with a single-goal victory over Barnet.
The Red Devils maintained a three-point lead thanks to striker Tyrone Barnett's third-minute goal and Raynor reckons Crawley are well placed to build on the most successful year in the club's history.
He said: "The first half of the season has been excellent for us and if we replicate that we will find ourselves in League One which will be a remarkable achievement. We are the team to beat, the opposition will be fired up against us and it's up to us to be professional and build on what we've done."
Raynor felt it was a case of Crawley "grinding out a victory" against a struggling Barnet side who have now lost three of their last four league games.
He added: "Teams won't come to us and play expansive football. Barnet had five in midfield and it was all about us getting three points.
"We are delighted to be top going into 2012 and the challenge lies ahead to stay there.
"After suffering a home defeat to Gillingham on Boxing Day this was a very important victory, and credit goes to 3,000 of our fans who turned up on a horrible night."
Barnet boss Lawrie Sanchez believes the challenge for his side going into the New Year is to play better against teams around them in the table.
He explained: "We have shown we can compete with the best, but we can't do it against teams around us. My aim is to get us clear of the bottom.
"For the last two seasons Barnet have gone into the final game with their survival at stake and we don't want that again. When I put a squad out I believe we've got enough about us to get something from every game we play in."
