James Coppinger speaks ahead of this weekends clash against rivals Scunthorpe and says consistency is key for Rovers going forward.
Long serving midfielder James Coppinger admits that it has been a "frustrating" start to the season for Rovers but he and his team mates are keen to turn things around against local rivals Scunthorpe, in what he has labelled an "important" match for everyone involved with the club.“We’ve got to look forward. We’ve worked hard on the training ground this week trying to put things right and everyone’s looking forward to the match against Scunthorpe.
“We’ve had good and bad spells so far this season. Its been frustrating more than anything, we felt we had turned a corner with some good performances and results but we’ve also had some very disappointing ones.
“Everyone was disappointed and frustrated with our second half performance at Walsall but we have to look forward. It's important not to dwell on the bad results and get ourselves down. If we get it right we can start to be more consistent and that is key.
“We need to find a strategy that works well for us, both home and away. It's going to take time, we have a lot of young players who haven’t played at this level before and it’s just abut finding the right balance and coming up with something that is going to give us consistency in our results.
“At this level the biggest thing is doing the basics right. Two years ago when we were in this league we weren’t necessarily playing the best football but we were doing the basics right and grinding out results when needed. We need to go back to doing that, if we do there are players in this team that will win us games."
The last time Rovers faced Scunthorpe was in the 2012-13 season - Rovers’ League One-winning campaign - where a five-goal thriller saw Brian Flynn’s men record a 3-2 win on their travels.
One of the most eagerly anticipated fixtures of the season, Coppinger stated that there is no better time to bounce back with three points.
“Everyone is up for the game this weekend. After such a disappointing performance at Walsall we want to bounce back with a good win against a local rival. It’s the ideal game to go into and put things right which is what we will be looking to do.
“It’s important to keep your discipline in a match like this. It's a big game for us, the fans and everybody connected with the club but it’s also a game where we have to perform and get three points. The best way to do this is to keep our discipline and concentrate on the win.
“We all know what our targets are, we still want to get promoted this season and that won’t change. The manager is as enthusiastic as ever on the training pitch and he comes out and gives his all just like the rest of us. We’ve trained morning and afternoon all week, been working on the areas that we need to improve on and really put the effort in. Now we have to put that into our performance tomorrow and come away with the result.
“Being captain in Rob’s absence is a great honour for me and I have relished that opportunity. It gives me extra responsibility and I really enjoy being a leader out on the pitch.”