Morecambe v Doncaster Rovers: Tom Anderson on mental challenges of his battle on two fronts
With Jay McGrath approaching full fitness after a groin injury, Tom Anderson does not know how big or small a part he will play in Doncaster Rovers' run-in, but the centre-back is determined to make it count.
After two months watching McGrath and Joseph Olowu from the bench, long-serving Anderson has started the last two matches.
He hopes to feature at Morecambe on Tuesday but regardless is determined to play his part in a promotion push which has wobbled a touch after consecutive defeats.
Second-placed Wimbledon, fourth-placed Notts County and Doncaster, sixth in League Two, are all in action, and with Rovers only one win behind the Dons, all sorts of things are possible.
It is a promotion battle which will test Rovers psychologically, just as the fight for a place in the team is testing 31-year-old Anderson, who began the campaign as a first-choice central defender.
"Mentally it can be very difficult if you've not been in the team for a while, but you always have to have in your mind that football can change just like that," says Anderson.
"You have to make sure you're ready, first and foremost for yourself, to be happy with your own performance, and for the team.
"You've got 10 other players to help and if you're not ready to do your job, you'll let them down. It's so important to have that mentality.
"It doesn't matter whether you come in to play two or three games or the last 15, it's not just 11 players that push you up the league.
"It's a long old season and as a collective, that's where you have to be together and ready to do the job."
Even when not playing, Anderson has a job to do.
"I'm one of the older, more experienced players and it's important to be a team player," he says. "I don't play for Tom Anderson FC, Doncaster is who I'm representing.
"That's how it is. That's the job title – to be a team player, it's not an individual part.
"It can be hard when you're not playing and you're a bit down in the dumps but you have no time to feel sorry for yourself because it can change just like that. That's where you have to be ready – physically and mentally – to come in and be like you've not been out of the team."
The right mentality is essential for a team whose league position does not fully represent their talent, with trips to relegation-threatened Morecambe and Accrington Stanley this week.
"It's probably the defining characteristic in any successful team, the mentality and how they approach things," says the Lancastrian. "We've got the ability to play teams off the park but unfortunately against some teams you just don't get that choice so you have to dig in and win your one-v-ones, your battles, your tackles, all stuff like that.
"These are the games where people call it the ugly side of the game, I call it the beautiful side of the game – you've got to win your headers, your tackles, your sprints, your clearances, you have to do the basics.
"Morecambe away, Accrington away are two tough places to go. I grew up not far from Accrington so I know what the weather's sometimes like there and they can be very tough places to go."