A bit of group therapy has helped Doncaster Rovers shake off their winter woes, James Coppinger has revealed.
Coppinger, who scored twice in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Barnsley, has been one of Rovers’ stand-out performers during the club’s recent upturn in form.
And the 33-year-old has revealed that a few home truths, in addition to a few fresh faces, lie at the heart of a revival which has seen Paul Dickov’s side lose just one in six.
“Before Christmas we struggled and went on a bad run but we’ve turned it round,” said Coppinger, Doncaster’s longest serving player.
“We had a few big discussions over a certain period of time and we’ve been working really hard on the training ground.
“It’s starting to pay dividends.
“We’ve got a few players back from injury and we’ve added a few, and it’s looking good.
“The last six or seven games we’ve performed really well and the results have come.”
Coppinger’s brace against Barnsley took his goal tally to three for the season.
The winger could take no personal satisfaction from an afternoon ruined by Nick Proschwitz’s late equaliser - but says his teammates are still heading to Yeovil this weekend in good spirits.
He said: “Sometimes you get good draws and sometimes you get bad draws.
“I think Saturday was a bad draw.
“We did well to get back from 1-0 down and then defended well for most of the second half.
“To concede in the manner we did, when we’d worked on [Chris] O’Grady turning in the box and identified their throw-ins in training, was really disappointing.
“We’ve got another big game this weekend at Yeovil, but they’re all big games from now until the end of the season,” he added.
“They’re coming thick and fast, and we’re looking forward to them.
“We’ve still got to play the majority of teams down there with us.
“We’ve been on a good run and we’ve hit form at just the right time so we’ve got to hit every game with confidence, knowing if we play like we can, we can get results.”