NIC Rouse insists the heights that Nottingham has scaled already this season are a constant source of inspiration for the players.

UP, UP AND AWAY: Nic Rouse says there is more to come from Nottingham in the second half of 2012/13. PIC: Alison Bowden.

The Green and Whites can move into second place heading into Christmas - leapfrogging Bedford who face Rotherham on Boxing Day - with a win over Moseley at Meadow Lane on Sunday.

The 31-year-old lock said the chance to move closer to the summit in a game that signals the half-way stage of the RFU Championship campaign has been embraced as challenge.

Acrophobia is not in the vocabulary of those at Nottingham Rugby's Meadow Lane headquarters.

"We are up there in the league which puts some pressure on us, but it's not something that should scare us but should fill us with confidence," Rouse said.

"We are going into the second-half of the season on a high. The league ladder doesn't lie and we are there in the mix for a top four place."

And it is not something that is being taken for granted, no matter how jolly things might look at the turn of the year.

The rise-and-rise of Martin Haag's men has drawn plenty of attention with Sky Sports broadcasting the blockbuster clash between Nottingham and Bedford at Meadow Lane on January 27.

TV time and mid-season plaudits, Rouse stresses, doesn't guarantee a spot in the play-offs with three months still to play.

"We have to remember how we have managed to get this far and we need to keep pushing on with that if we are to come up with the same sort of results," Rouse said.

 "This December-January run of matches starting with Moseley, taking us to Rotherham then into the Cup before we take on Bedford is going to be a tough one for us.

"The hard work can't stop."