"I have been in the play-offs in the last three years and I know luck plays a large part in it, so we want to get away from that if we can," he says.
"The way to do that is finish in the top two, of course, and they are always the best two sides in the league - it will be the same again this season."
Alan says his squad has the talent to do it - but wishes he could have put it together earlier in the season.
"It is a long campaign and we have got a different team to when we started it; it is a shame we didn't start the season with this team, because I think we would definitely have gone up, but that is by the by, we have got a lot of catching up to do - and we are going to try and do it.
"I have no doubt that we will be able to handle that - we will see - but this is the time to put together a run to set you up.
"Wolves did it last year after not being amongst the top teams; they went on and won the play-offs.
"Form is very important going into this spell of the season, whether you get into the top two or not.
"If you don't, that form takes you through the play-offs, so it is important we keep the form going that we have put together in the last 10 games or so.
"We have got a lot of confidence in our unbeaten away spell since I have arrived and you have to draw on the positives rather than the negatives, which is what we will do.
"And the five goals the other night certainly helped; when you have made as many chances as we have done at Fulham and Norwich, against Cardiff, and not taken the chances, it can start damaging you - so it was nice to get a load of goals on Tuesday.
"Otherwise, you can lose faith in what you are about, especially the strikers who are always on a knife edge anyway.
"So it has done them the power of good and if a chance comes Saturday they are going to be able to take it.
"And in our next home game we can draw on the strength of that 5-0 home win - we are positive, the players are in a good shape, the fans have been terrific for us, and we look forward to seeing them Saturday on again."
Alan was pleased with the whole team against Wimbledon, and adds:
"It was nice to get a few goals after threatening to get a few for a few weeks now but not producing it.
"It was a pleasing performance and there were some great goals as well.
"You could see in the first 30 minutes that there wasn't too much between the sides; we looked jittery and they raised their game.
"But once we got the first goal the confidence kicked in and we put them to the sword."
As for Matthew Etherington's hat trick performance, he says:
"He was excellent on the night; his goals were well taken, he is a threat down the wing, and he was up against a good player in Jermaine Darlington, who I have a lot of respect for - that just made it more enjoyable for Mattie.
"I have got on at him to get more goals, with his right foot as well, and they were well taken goals."
Looking at Sunderland, he says:
"A draw is no good for either of us so it will be a good game; we will be both going for the win and that will make it enjoyable and a bit of a ding-dong.
"That was the case when Sunderland played Preston midweek and I think this will be the same.
"It is difficult to get wins when teams set their stall out to get a draw but sometimes that won't be high in a team's agenda and that makes it more enjoyable for me and the team.
"We know we are good at situations where teams will come on to us and Sunderland need to push into the play-offs with all these games they have in hand.
"They have had a fantastic season and are in an identical scenario to us with almost a new team and they have got their act together at the right time, a bit like ourselves.
"Both of us will be thinking we can get promoted and they have obviously got in a great position in the FA cup where they could realistically get to the final.
"They will be on a high; I went there the other day and it is a great atmosphere, and we are taking 2,500 so it will be a cracking day.
"I would say that as Mick McCarthy and I are now we are both content with our sides and feel we can go up.
"Sometimes opportunities come and don't materialise so it is nice to be third now; we need to put pressure on and see what happens.
"But we have got a lot of work to do yet."