Defender Butler ready for Barnet battle.
Andy Butler is expecting Rovers to up their game from previous weeks now that players are returning from injuries.
Second-placed Rovers host Barnet at Keepmoat Stadium on Saturday and the defender – who excelled in a notable win against Portsmouth – says there’s no chance of a let up.
“It’s encouraging to see players coming back; Mathieu Baudry, Paul Keegan, Niall (Mason) all played ninety minutes (v Derby County), looked fit and sharp and it shows you what squad we’ve got and how competition for places will now start to hopefully improve us,” he said.
“It shows you what kind of squad we have, everyone is willing to go out there and play football and if need be take their place.
“It means you can’t rest on your laurels, you have to perform in training and in games because someone is there now ready to take your place which is good.
“We’ve had a few results where we needed to improve but every time we’ve lost, we’ve got an improvement in the next game. It’s positive and we’ve got players coming back so the squad’s getting bigger and bigger so we’re healthy and in a good position.”
Butler, who made both goals against Pompey in a 2-1 triumph also made viral video status with his audacious backheel goalline clearance but is expecting very few frills from the Bees this weekend.
“It’ll be a tough challenge,” he said of facing Barnet for the first time in the Football League in nearly twenty years.
“I looked at the stats the other day and they’ve not lost that many – they’ve drawn quite a few – so we’re expecting a physical battle.
“They’ve got big John Akinde up front and Martin Allen, we know how he’ll arrange his team, they’ll be at it from the start, I expect nothing less. I expect them to come and give it a really good go to be honest and cause us some problems, that’s then up to us control the game.
“We know we’ve got players who can score – John Marquis and Andy Williams have been brilliant – Copps is also causing plenty of problems.”