Gary McSheffrey insists the Rovers squad are primed to fight for every point on offer as they look to take another significant step towards safety against AFC Wimbledon.
Rovers head to the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Saturday full of confidence having beat Accrington Stanley in midweek.
And McSheffrey hopes his side can build on the victory to further cut the gap towards the safety mark in Sky Bet League One.
On the team playing as a unit:
“I think there’s been good signs of that. In most games, we’ve competed, no matter what the result.
“We’ve had some excellent performances in some games.
“It is starting to knit together and looking like a group going in the right direction.
“I know they are probably in a better place than they have been or they were.
“Confidence is everything in football, in most sports and in life really.
“They’ve shown good character to bounce back from some real disappointing setbacks.
“The players out there must be feeling there is good, healthy competition now and they’re part of a good group to fight in every game.”
On having greater strength in depth:
“In a couple of weeks we might have a couple more back that will really make the decision tough for who is on the bench.
“From where we were at, there’s no complaints about having too many players and managing minutes from now on.
“We’re going to need everyone and everyone is going to have a part to play.
“We need everyone at it, all hungry and all fighting for the shirt.”
On making his mark on the squad:
“It’s been pretty hectic but slowly we’re getting there and implementing some of the things we have wanted on the squad.
“There’s been lots of positives so far and there is still lots to develop and improve on.”
On attempting to cut the gap to safety further:
“We’re under no illusions about the importance of the game. The gap can go to seven, it can go to one, the gap can stay the same.
“We know what we want it to be and we’ll do all we can to get it to that.
“We don’t want to lose games at this stage of the season. We have come through a really tough fixture list in the last eight or nine games and we’ve come out with four wins.
“Some other teams have got that fixture list to come and they’re dealing with rearranged games.
“We’ve rode the storm, got through it with almost half the points we could have taken and we look forward to fighting for everything. The chase is on.”
On facing AFC Wimbledon:
“They’ve got some really good individuals and play some good football if given the time to do so.
“There’s been a lot of games recently where they should have gone ahead and had great chances at 0-0.
“It’s going to be a difficult one and them drawing eight of their last 14 games shows how hard they are to beat.
“Can we implement enough pressure and possession to force a few good opportunities for ourselves.”
On the travelling support:
“They’ve been brilliant and the lads have shown them the appreciation, even for coming in their numbers for home games.
“They’re definitely a 12th man for us.
“The buzz for some of the lads in some of the away games where we’ve got big wins and the fans are there celebrating with us has been great.
“It’s so important they get behind us because it drives the lads and we’re extremely grateful for them making the long journey.”