JAMES Coppinger insists Rovers’ promotion bandwagon is back on track after admitting complacency crept into the camp.
But he has warned that things could be about to get ugly in the race for the Championship.
Doncaster missed the opportunity to go top of League One as a result of Tuesday night’s dour goalless stalemate with MK Dons.
And Rovers’ return of one point from the last nine available means they are now just three points ahead of seventh-placed Yeovil Town, as the chasing pack turn up the heat.
But Coppinger saw the draw with the Dons as a positive ahead of Monday night’s Sky-televised trip to Crawley Town, admitting Rovers switched off during defeats to Bury and Walsall.
Coppinger said: “It’s difficult when you’re top of the league and you’re the team to beat. The mentality changes.
“You think that you’re just going to turn up and win games, but that isn’t the case.
“There’s some good teams in this division and you can’t take it for granted.
“I think against Bury and Walsall we maybe did that, collectively rather than individually.
“We were six points clear and probably thinking we were promoted,” he added.
“I think that’s a natural reaction.
“It’s up to the senior lads in the dressing room, the ones who’ve been in this type of position before, to stand up and be counted.”
Tuesday night’s draw was not easy on the eye, but players and supporters might have to get used to more of the same during the promotion run-in, according to Coppinger.
“From my perspective the other night was promising because it showed people were willing to do the ugly things to get results,” he said.
“It wasn’t pretty but we worked hard as a group and tried to stop them playing. We went into the game with a don’t-lose mentality.
“We’ve stopped the rot and given ourselves a base. We’re aware that’s what we need to be like in every single game.
“There’s 15 games left and we are where we are because of what we’ve been doing - and that’s working hard for each other.”
Boss Brian Flynn will assess the injury situation before raiding the loan market.
Iain Hume and David Syers have an outside chance of returning at Crawley, but in-form forward Chris Brown is out for at least a month after sustaining a medial ligament injury against Walsall.