Doncaster Rovers v Accrington Stanley: Keeping it simple paying dividends for Rovers

A seven-match winning streak means that when the final whistle blows at home to Accrington Stanley on Saturday, the League Two tables will be called up on phones and the fixture lists – for those who do not know them off by heart yet – and calculators will come out for supporters eager to know what it means for their team's chances of making the play-offs. After years of spending far more time looking down than up, it is a great place to be.

Rovers are within four points of the play-off places with four games to play. Walsall, Wimbledon and Harrogate Town are within striking distance of the top seven as well, although the latter pair have only three games left.

As far as manager Grant McCann and top-scorer Joe Ironside are concerned, all that is for other people. They are just having fun, so much so that it is all McCann can to do to get his players to take a rest.

"What's standing out really is the enjoyment I see in their faces," he says, proudly. "They're all enjoying playing and working for each other.

"On the training ground we're having to push them out of the door to go home and rest. We can't get them off the pitch. Today I was dragging Hakeeb (Adelakun) in because he wanted to stay out there.

"This is great. This is all we want to create. We want to create that feel-good factor around the place.

"It's been there all season, really. People were asking me when we didn't win for a while what the mood in the camp was like but the mood's always been good, it really has. It's testament to the group of players we have and the staff because they're the ones who drive the mood and keep the standards high.

"Ultimately if you keep doing the right thing you'll be rewarded for it. it's a pleasing place to be but we can't worry about what's gone, we have to look at what's ahead."

As for what an eighth win on the spin – wonderful consistency for anyone in a 46-game season, never mind a team which had such a miserable time until February – would mean, McCann is adamant.

"Personally I've not even thought about it – honestly, I haven't," he says. "We just wanted to get back on the training ground after the game the other night to pick the bones out of it, look at things we can improve but also show the players the bits we're really pleased with.

"That's how we do it, that's how we've done it all season, win, lose or draw."

Ironside’s similarly simplistic outlook has served him well recently.

Strikers have been falling like flies at Doncaster in 2023-24. When the injury which ended George Miller's season after three games, on-loan Louie Marsh's injury and January recall by Sheffield United, Mo Faal being called back from his loan at the same time, Connor Carty and Jon Taylor's injuries and now the hamstring problem which has ended Max Biamou's campaign early are put to McCann he lobs in "and Jack Goodman, who fractured his foot."

Throughout it all, Ironside has been more than reliable constant, but a source of hope.

"Joe's robust, strong," says his manager. "I'm not saying the others aren't, they've been really unfortunate, but he's taken a lot of knocks, this year. He's taken a lot of bumps and tackles and elbows and everything and he just gets on with it."

Recently he has been stuck on 18 goals for the season, before scoring his first in nine matches in Tuesday's 2-1 win over Walsall.

"As long as I'm doing my job for the team and we're winning games, that's what it's all about,” he insists.

“It's not changing the script, just making sure I'm in the positions that enabled me to score the goals I did.

"I want to score in every game but it's better that we're playing well at the minute and the goals are coming from all over the pitch.

"As long as the team's playing well, everyone's happy."

Ironside insists he always believed the turnaround was coming.

"Bails (Owen Bailey) said it but I'm sick of telling my friends we were a good side, we've just been unfortunate," he says. "As the season's gone on I feel we've gelled more and become a more consistent team.

"We've just got to keep doing what we've been doing and not get too far ahead of ourselves."

Maybe earlier in the season Biamou's injury would have been an even bigger blow. The news is arguably worse – now the 10 to 12 week lay-off stretches beyond the end of his contract – but there is nothing like a winning streak, the return from suspension of Tom Anderson and the news Jon Taylor might play again this season to take minds off it.

Distracting Ironside is not easy.

"We're just focused on what we can impact in the now and that's what we'll carry on doing until the end of the season," he says.

"Accrington are a really good side and we're just focusing on doing our best and at five o'clock we'll see where we are."