Darren Ferguson believes an early goal could prove key in the final game of the season against Hartlepool United this weekend.
Rovers need to better Plymouth’s result to secure the Sky Bet League Two title, and Ferguson says there will be plenty of twists and turns along the way.
“We need to go ahead early and try and build pressure, I’m sure all three teams will be top at different stages so we have to be ready for that,” he said.
“I want my players to do themselves justice and show how good a team we are, if they do that then we’ll get the right result and see where that takes us.
“My main message is to just finish the season with a win, if we end up with 88 points then that is a fantastic total – all we can do is put pressure on Plymouth.”
Opponents Hartlepool need a win to have any chance of staying in the EFL, and the Rovers manager is expecting a hostile atmosphere at Victoria Park.
“We’ll have a lot of fans there and it will be a good atmosphere, there is more pressure on them than us but we just have to do our job,” he added.
“They’ve got a new manager in recently, they were a lot more attack minded last week and were perhaps unfortunate to lose at Cheltenham.
“Looking back at the season it’s been great for us, we have to learn from what has gone on but whatever happens we can be proud.”