Grant McCann paid tribute to the Rovers supporters who battled on through the wind and rain to watch their side at Accrington Stanley.
Many of the 400+ travelling support stood on open terracing at one end of the Wham Stadium throughout, despite having strong wind in their faces along with relentless rain.
“Credit to our fans - particularly the ones who stood behind the goal,” McCann said. “They looked absolutely soaked at the end.”
Speaking to the media following the game, McCann praised his squad for their resilience in the face of injuries to the group, with more bad news hitting the camp over the last few weeks.
“It’s a credit to the group because they keep going and keep going,” he said. “We’ve been on a really good run of wins, with some defeats along the way. Over the last 12 games I think we’re in the top six of the form table and that’s a credit to the players.
“They’ve been limited in number but they keep going and keep going. It was our sixth game in two weeks.”
After captain Richard Wood was ruled out for several weeks, it was revealed that Zain Westbrooke will require surgery on a thigh injury that will sideline him for a minimum of two months.
James Maxwell will also miss several weeks and may need an operation himself while striker George Miller could be out for the rest of the campaign due to his knee injury.
McCann was left to bemoan the injury situation.
“James is struggling with his knee still,” he said. “He came back and tried to train on Thursday but it was still too sore.
“We’ll see where James is.
“We’re not having much luck this season. We’ve gone to Accrington missing about ten players through injury, and some big players as well.
“Zain Westbrooke needs an operation and could be out for three months. George Miller, we may not see him again this season because he’s going to have another operation. James Maxwell may need an op to clear up his knee.
“It’s been horrendous. The injuries have been shockingly bad and I’ve never seen anything like it.
“There’s probably five or six players that we won’t see again this season. We’re hoping Jon Taylor might get back maybe January or February because he’s feeling a lot better but the likes of Caolan Lavery, George Miller, maybe Zain - we’ll see how he recovers - we may not see.
“James Maxwell’s operation may only keep him out for three or weeks but we’ll see.”
