Danny Schofield is confident his Rovers side will deliver a positive response against Grimsby Town this weekend.
The head coach was disappointed with the manner of the performance in defeat in the FA Cup last weekend but has been heartened by the performance of his players on the training ground this week, heading into Saturday’s trip to Blundell Park.
Schofield on what he’s learned about his squad this week:
“I think the demands I’m putting on the players are really high, on and off the ball. I’m always wanting to improve physical levels and play a certain type of football. Sometimes the players are exposed and that is down to me rather than them.
“We’re all in this together. Whether it’s adversity or good times, you learn equally as much in both.
“We’ve reflected on it, we’ve worked on it on the training pitch and we move onto Grimsby on Saturday.
“The result is the thing that is looked at the most externally. Things will take time to really progress and develop. We’ll implement new ideas, players will come in, some will leave - it takes time to get your point across.
“Up until the game last week, I think it’s been fantastic and the players have taken a lot of things on board and implemented them. But it was inevitable that a bump in the road would come - football is what it is and I understand the frustrations at the last performance.
“We’ve trained really well this week and the lads have responded really well to the defeat. We’re looking for a positive one on Saturday.”
On returning players:
“Tom Anderson had some treatment on it early in the week and he’s been doing some light sessions. He had his first session back with the group on Wednesday and he came through it fine.
“We’ll assess him over the next couple of days and see if he’s available for selection.
“We always try to look short term but also long term for the player. We want Tom on the pitch as must as possible because he’s an integral part of the squad. Just risking him and throwing him in for one game, if that’s not the right decision and I get the advice from the medical staff, I’ll go with that.
“Tommy Rowe is in a similar position to Tom. He trained on Wednesday, albeit just part of the session because it was quite an intense day with a lot of 11v11 work.
“He’ll be assessed but as it stands in my mind and the physio’s mind, he’ll probably not be available for selection.
“Other than that, it’s pretty much as we stand.
“Joseph Olowu is back on the training field. He’s trained well, currently non-contact. He’ll move onto contact training next week.”
On his expectations of Grimsby Town this weekend:
“They had a really positive result in the FA Cup against Plymouth. They’ll be really positive and have a lot of belief in what they’re doing.
“I think they’ve got a very good coach and really competitive team so it’s going to be a challenge.
“The key is to have a way of doing things and they clearly do. They have a real way of defending and of attacking, which we’re aware of. They’re a really well organised team and they have a really good work ethic and work well for each other.
“That was evidenced in their performance against Plymouth. Fundamentally, they have a lot of strengths.
“You’re always looking for a response and to try to build momentum. It’s been really positive since I’ve come into the building and the performances and training of the players have been really good.
“We had a disappointing one against King’s Lynn but it’s how you respond next that counts.”
On changes requiring time to fully take effect:
“If you look at all coaches at different football clubs, very rarely do they go in and try and implement something and it happens overnight. It takes a period of time.
“I know time is of the essence at football clubs. At this club, we try to do things a certain way and play a certain way, try to instil certain behaviours, increase standards of performance to try to take us that certain way.
“We believe ultimately that will get us certain results.”
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