Auxerre completed a remarkable transformation from boy's club to French double winners in 1996, but despite now enjoying a lofty perch, Fernandez insists no-one at the Stade de l'Abbé Deschamps is getting carried away.

"From experience, I know that things change very quickly in football. We've built up a positive dynamic, but you just need one or two players to lose form, one or two to get injured or suspended, and then you start down a slippery slope," said Fernandez, who has just lost top scorer Ireneusz Jelen for this weekend's match at Paris Saint-Germain to a thigh injury.

"When you analyse Ligue 1 and see the potential of teams like Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, and then those who come after that like PSG, Monaco, Rennes, Lille and Toulouse and perhaps Lorient, who are a very good side this season, I would say we come after that. A successful season for us would be to finish in the top ten."

Even that position looked optimistic following the opening three games of the season, all of which were lost without the team scoring a single goal.

Remarkable run

Fernandez's men are unbeaten in the ten matches they have played since then, winning the last seven in a row. For Fernandez, who is in his fourth season in Burgundy, the secret of his success is simplicity itself.

"There's luck, but not only luck. I think that the team is a team that has both individual and collective quality. It's also the work of a squad that has been together for two or three years," said the ex-Sochaux and Marseille boss, whose team produced a remarkable run after the 2008-09 season winter break to ease away from the relegation zone and finish in eighth place.

"We've managed to continue the form we showed in the second half of last season, where we would have finished third in the league. We've kept our squad virtually intact with the same players and the same team."

He added: "If you have a good team with good players and you can keep hold of them, that helps create understanding within the side and it's easier to get results."