Bristol Rovers need to be physically and mentally prepared for a difficult challenge when the Gas face Colchester United, according to Joel Senior.
Rovers travel to the JobServe Community Stadium on Saturday to take on Danny Cowley’s U’s in Sky Bet League Two action and do so as the in-form team in the EFL.
With four consecutive league victories, the Gas are flying high while this weekend’s opponents have only claimed one league win so far this season, sitting on seven points from eight matches played.
Statistics, winning runs and form guides will all go out of the window come kick-off on Saturday though, according to Senior, who knows just what level of a challenge Colchester will pose to the Pirates after an impressive campaign last season.
“If you look at last season, Colchester United were a really good team in this league,” the full-back said. “No game is going to be easy. As we’ve shown, things can change so quickly in this league.
“They’re a good team. We’ve been shown clips of them and we can see that they’re a good team and they’ve just maybe not had the rub of the green. But they will be a tough test on Saturday, as is every game in this division. Every game is difficult, particularly away from home, so we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Rovers are arguably the prime example for how rapidly results, and sentiment, can shift. After a difficult start to life in Sky Bet League Two the Gas are now looking for a fifth consecutive league win for the first time since March 2016.
For Senior, the signs were there that a good run was imminent for him and his teammates even after the initial difficulties in the league campaign.
The 26-year-old said: “We had a tough start to the league but since then we’ve shown what a good team we are. We’ve been resilient and we’ve played some good football as well.
“If you looked at the stats from the previous games, although we weren’t our best in those games, there were signs that we were going to pick up at some point. Maybe it was a little bit of a hangover from last season but once you get that first win, you build confidence. That’s what we’ve been doing and hopefully we can continue that.
“We’re six unbeaten in all competitions now and we’ve won four league games in a row, so it’s been a very good run for the group and, when you’re doing things like that, it only breeds more confidence.”
By Senior’s own admission, his debut campaign in the blue-and-white quarters was a challenging one on multiple fronts. But the No2 has enjoyed a stellar start to life under Darrell Clarke in BS7.
A friendly, fierce competition for the starting right-back berth with summer signing Macauley Southam-Hales has benefited both players, and the team overall, and Senior is relishing the battle for minutes.
“Macca and I have got a great relationship,” he added. “I felt like I started the season okay but then Macca came in, took his chance, and he’s done well as well.
“Competition for places is vital at any Club. You want to compete with someone that you know, if you don’t perform, then they’re coming in and taking your place straight away. I think that’s really healthy and it’s only going to help us throughout the season in this league, because we’ll need everyone and all the players need to be on it for us to be a successful team.
“Across the squad, we’ve built strong relationships both on and off the pitch and they really show in those moments when you need to dig in deep for each other. The togetherness that we’ve created off the pitch is translating to on the pitch too and we’re showing the fans that we’re doing everything we can to get the three points.”
