Rovers No 2 Richard O'Kelly made the appeal to the supporters in Monday's Star and South said that the fans would give the players "110 per cent backing" in their crucial League One promotion play-off semi-final second-leg tie against Southend.

"I think you'll see the fans really getting behind the players - hopefully like they did against Swansea when they kept with the team throughout and even gave them a standing ovation at the end even though we lost 4-0," said South.

"I think that Southend are going to be well up for it and if things do go a bit wrong during the game I would urge the supporters to stick with the team because I know the players appreciate our support.

"I would certainly hope that the fans don't turn on the players if they make a mistake and get on their backs, because they will be under enough pressure as it is. All every supporter wants is for the players to go out there and to give of their best and play like they can do. If they can do that then we could come out winners on the night.

"But as I said earlier, Southend are not just going to come up here and lay down because they want promotion just as badly as we do.

"I think that the two sides are very evenly matched and it could go either way.

"I know a number of fans will be expecting us to win after holding Southend to a goalless draw at Roots Hall but actually doing it is a different thing altogether.

"Everybody was down after the Cheltenham game when we blew our chance of automatic promotion, but the result at Southend has lifted us again.

"I thought that we played a lot better than we did at Cheltenham and we've got to build on that performance tomorrow.

"If we could get an early goal it could make all the difference because it would help settle the players' nerves."

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