Luke Thomas is expecting a tough test when Bristol Rovers welcome Colchester United to The Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The Pirates will be looking to claim back-to-back victories in the fourth tier after beating Shrewsbury Town 3-0 on New Year's Day thanks to Fabrizio Cavegn's second-half hat-trick, but have had to wait to play in the league again after the away fixture against Barrow was postponed.
Rovers have had one fixture since then, a 4-3 defeat to Plymouth in the Vertu Trophy, with the Gas able to take confidence from their scoring form in front of goal. However, they will have to be at their best against a Colchester team that has surged up the league after only losing two of their previous 13 outings.
Speaking to the media before the contest, Thomas previewed Rovers' upcoming opponents and emphasised the importance of getting on a good run of form.
"Colchester at the weekend will be a really tough game," he said. "I think we found it tough [away from home]. Luckily, we managed to get a point up there, so we know we’re going into a really tough game. We need to play similarly to Tuesday.
"The three or four wins could bring us up on the table and get us closer to where we want to be. Hopefully, we can do that now and put a run of results together."
The Pirates can take plenty of positives from their seven-goal thriller against Plymouth. Despite falling to defeat, the Gas found their feet in the attack, scoring three for the second straight game and seeing Shaq Forde and Thomas back in the goals.
However, Rovers will be disappointed with the time and type of goals conceded, which saw them exit the Vertu Trophy at the Round Of 16 stage. Thomas was frustrated with the way the Gas fell to defeat, but was pleased with their efforts in the final third.
"We’re all gutted about it," said the winger. "But we deserve to lose any football match if we concede any goal the way we did. We scored three really good goals, but we ended up conceding too many.
"Obviously, Fab is having a good season; he’s continued his great goal-scoring form, and Shaq and I were able to chip in the other day. Hopefully, we can start to do that a lot more. We know where to be if I move, Fab takes up that space and vice versa. So, it’s working really well at the moment. Hopefully, it continues to work that well.
Thomas often starts on the left in front of Jack Sparkes, with the pair always looking to combine defensively and offensively. They are close on and off the pitch, with the winger believing it helps their connection when working together.
"Sparkes and I are quite close off the pitch as well," said Thomas. "I think you can see that the connection we have on the pitch, I think we work the same, we have the same kind of ideas, and I know where he’s going to be, and he knows where I’m going to be.
"I know he’s always on the outside shoulder. So, when I do give him the quality in possession, it’s amazing."
