Rovers Player caught up with Rovers manager Paul Dickov ahead of his sides big kick off in the Championship against Blackpool on Saturday.
With pre-season all but over, Dickov is looking forward to getting the season up and running admitting the players just want to get going with the league games.
He said: “The lads are really raring to go.
“The last couple of days we have tone the training down a little bit and on Saturday they can take out all their frustrations that they have got with me for absolutely hammering them for the last six weeks.
“The one thing they are is fit and they are looking really sharp and as I said Saturday is when it matters.”
One thing that got the fans talking after the final pre-season game was the style of play Paul wants to bring to the side.
On the way he wants his team to play he said: “We have to reiterate to the boys how we want to play; we want them to play a certain way and they know that but we don’t want them to go out there and play with any fear. We want to take the shackles off them especially on Saturday. We’ve had a really good six weeks training period with lots of physical work but also lots of work with the ball.
“They know what we want from them, as I’ve said all along you can see how and why they went up as Champions last season because there is a lot of winner in the team and one thing the whole group wants to do is learn.
“We have a confident bunch of lads here and we just want them to believe the right things and that we can go out there and win games. I said on the first day I got the job that we want to try and win every game; we don’t want any of the players going out with any negativity we want them to go out full of belief and confidence that they can play the football that we want them to play.”
Saturday sees Blackpool visit the Keepmoat and Dickov expects a tough challenge from Paul Ince’s side.
Dickov added: “I’ve seen them play a couple of times pre-season and Paul [Ince] has got them playing well, they’re another team that like to play good football, and with the additions of Michael Chopra and Steven Davis they will be a test for us.”
This is the first time in almost 10 years that Rovers will open a league campaign at home since Dave Penney’s men faced Blackpool in 2004. Dickov sees this as an advantage to get off to a good start and hopes fans will come out and support the team.
“It’s the first game of the season and it’s a home game so we are going to go out there and have a right go at them and try and win the game.
“The supporters can be fantastic for us on Saturday and they will get right behind us. I’m sure that when that whistle goes and they see that we are trying to press from the front and the players giving it everything they have got they will get right behind us.”