Tom Knowles said the team performance Yeovil Town put in to secure a 2-0 win over Southend United typified former captain Lee Collins.
The fixture comes just days before the first anniversary of the death of the centre half and Huish Park marked his passing with his daughters, Amelia, Laila and Charley-Mae, mascots for the game.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the win, Knowles said: “He was a leader on and off the pitch. Seeing his little girls and his family here sends a shiver down your spine, so to put in a team performance for him that is so important.
“What this club has gone through, it has connected us so much and we all still feel his presence here and the gaffer constantly reminds us what Lee was on and off the pitch.
“He wants that in our team so I am really happy we have done that for him today.”
Knowles scored his seventh of the season with an eighth minute strike to put the Glovers 2-0 ahead after an opener from Reuben Reid, and said both he and his team-mates are playing with confidence.
He said: “I feel a lot more confident in myself and hopefully I am showing that on the pitch, and we are feeling that as a team, playing with a lot more freedom and confidence.
“The past couple of months we know we have not been at the races and we’ve been disappointed not to get the results, so it is always pleasing when we have played well to get three points and that’s what we are here to do.”
The win saw Yeovil leap-frog Southend in to the top half of the National League table, 11 points off the play-off places, with nine games remaining.
Knowles did not quite go as far as saying they could still make a push for the top seven, but he certainly still has a motivation to pick up wins.
He added: “There’s still 27 points to play for and the more we can pick up, we will always look up and see where we can get too.
“You have to beat teams around you and in the next few weeks we’ll be looking to gain an advantage over other teams.
“We have to go in to every game with confidence because on any given day we can beat any team in this league. We’ve had great performances against teams above us, and we have to go in every game looking for three points.”