Captain Rob Jones spoke to Rovers Player ahead of the game against Bury and he admitted that the team go into the game in a confident mood.
“You take the game on its merit, they are in a position where it’s a bit scary at the moment but every game in this division is played in that manner because all points are vital in one way or another.
“We’re getting to the business end of the season now, where we are all fighting for something so I think from now on in they are all going to be real dogfights.
“We are in a division where anybody can beat anybody regardless of what position you’re in the table.
“We go into the game confident, we are where we are because we’ve had a good season so far but we’ve got 18 games to go. After Christmas they all just disappear so it’s a cause for us to be
focused on the last 18 games, the last 3 months as it might be and try and get what we need out of them.
“Bury will want the 3 points for their reasons, and we want 3 points for ours, so it bodes well for an interesting game.”
One noticeable difference to previous seasons is that the number of players unavailable due to injury has dramatically fallen.
“I think there’s been not a lot of action going on in the treatment room so far, touch wood. But its all testament to the players, coaching staff and the fitness guy, keeping the players out on the training ground and out on the pitch.
“It just shows the experience we have, to look after our bodies and also the determination to be a part of what is something that is going really well this season.
“It starts in the summer, on your own; you have got to come back fresh, fit and ready to go. If your not then you get caught out with the niggly injuries but thankfully we’ve had very little of those so far, hopefully that will continue.
Rob admitted that the fixture break last weekend wasn’t a welcome one in his eyes.
“We’re seven unbeaten, confidence is high at the football club, we’re sat second top of the table so we would have rather played then not.
“There is a bit of excitement about the boys this week because we have not played last week, so hopefully we can channel that in the right direction and go and have a good performance on Saturday.”
“I think you can’t get caught up with the expectation. You as an individual look at where you’d like to be in the division but you don’t expect to be there.
“You have to work hard for everything you get in football matches and this season we have worked extremely hard as individuals and a unit so we are where we are on merit.
“You can’t expect to be where you are because of who you are and what club you’re at, it has to come from within, you have to work hard, get better as individuals, get better as a team and work hard for each other which is the most important bit and we have that here.”
“We have a vast amount of experience in the squad, in this division and in higher divisions, so we have a good blend.
“We have a lot of youth coming through at the moment who are working really hard to get involved in our squad.
“We have a lot of goalscorers, a lot of players who like to defend, a fantastic goalkeeper, another fantastic goalkeeper out on loan and we have another fantastic goalkeeper coming through the ranks in Jonny Maxted.
“The future looks good but we are in the here and now, we have got to get to where we want to be and not get carried away what might happen or this scenario, that scenario, we have to look at each individual game as it comes and Bury is going to be difficult so we have to overcome them to get where we need to be.”
When asked about targets, Rob revealed that he has set himself personal targets however wasn’t willing to reveal them.
“I give myself targets at the beginning of the season, not so much for goals but how I want to play and how I want to do things but that stays firmly with me, even my wife doesn’t know so I keep that very close to my chest.
“Seven goals! It’s been fantastic for me to get that many so early in the season but when you’ve got the delivery of David Cotterill, it’s very difficult to fluff those. He puts them on a plate and all you have to do is put them in the net. I’m very grateful to him I think he’s set up every single one.
“I got 10 in my first season up in Scotland, so that’s my best so far, who knows what the next 18 games will bring!”