Jamie McCombe knows the importance of going on a consistent league run.
He went through something similar during his time with Bristol City when he first arrived at the club in 2006.
Facing their seventh game of the season, City were languishing in the bottom two of League One.
However, come the end of the ‘06-07 campaign, the Robins had gained automatic promotion to the Championship following a stunning turnaround.
And McCombe is hoping the same can be said for Rovers after a win at Scunthorpe United saw the side propel themselves from 18th to 13th in the early standings.
“The league at this stage is tight. If we string two or three results together there’s no reason why we can’t climb up the table fast,” said the centre-back.
“You’d be amazed at the confidence that brings - not only from the players but from the general feel of the fans, the town, everything seems to get momentum.
“I know personally the importance of going on a little run because in football a week is a long time - you have a win Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday and the table can look a hell of a lot different.”
Doncaster face a break from league action following international call-ups.
But McCombe has called for consistency - and that starts with a strong result on their travels at Fleetwood on October 18.
“You can see why there’s not too many gaps from the teams from tenth to the bottom,” said 31-year-old McCombe.
“The teams that are consistent will progress more so in this division than the others. You know the top end of the Championship and the Premiership before the season starts. You know the teams who are going to be there because they’ve got the better players and they’re more consistent. Whereas at this level, if you string a run of wins together then you can climb up the table.
“It’s frustrating as a player when it’s unpredictable.
“You want to know what you’re doing each week and get on a run.
“It’s been difficult, we’ve had a lot of disruption with players coming in and players going out and working with what we have got.
“We’re working hard to put it right. It’s down to us as players to stand up and be counted and take this challenge on. Hopefully everyone is up for that and we can progress.”