Desire will take Doncaster Rovers up says ace striker John Marquis

John Marquis believes a desire to storm back into League One will ensure complacency does not set in at Doncaster Rovers.
John Marquis is bidding for his second promotion in successive seasonsJohn Marquis is bidding for his second promotion in successive seasons
John Marquis is bidding for his second promotion in successive seasons

Eight wins from their last ten league matches has taken Rovers four points clear at the top of League Two and given them a ten point cushion in the automatic promotion places.

Striker Marquis experienced promotion out of the division last season while on loan with Northampton Town, a side that went 24 games unbeaten.

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And he says he recognises the same desire to continue winning within the Rovers squad which means he has no concerns that complacency could derail their promotion push.

“The job was almost done when I went to Northampton for the last 15 games or so,” Marquis said.

“But they kept a mentality of ruthlessness.

“They kind of knew they were already up but they still wanted to win games.

“There were targets of wanting to win as many games as they could in a row. There were records they just wanted to keep smashing.

“And we want to do that.

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“It’s not just winning and thinking hopefully we will get over the line.

“We want to go up and we want to go up in style.

“We haven’t lost at home, touch wood, so far this season. We want that to continue.

“It would be a great record to have if we could go a whole season without losing at home.

“There’s always ways to better ourselves.

“There is a bit of a gap at the top now but we’re not going to rest on it.

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“We’ve got to put our foot down and keep winning games, do well at home, pick up points away from home and see where it takes us.”

The Rovers squad will return to training today for the first time since beating promotion rivals Portsmouth last Thursday, when Marquis netted twice.

Boss Darren Ferguson handed players and staff three days off after the busy Christmas period.

Rather than relishing the chance to rest up for a few days, Marquis admitted he would rather have been preparing for another game.

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“We’re on good form so we mant more games,” Marquis said. “I’d rather have had a game to be honest and keep winning.

“We’ve been in a lot over Christmas, not only because the manager has asked us to but because we want to keep winning games.

“All the time that you’re winning, you want to keep going into work and the next game and the next game.

“It’s just the way that we are and the mentality we have as a squad.

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“This break is more of a mental thing really, taking yourselves away from football for a couple of days where we have been pretty full-on for the last month or so with a lot of games.

“It’s been about taking ourselves out of it, spending some time with the family which is good.

“Then we’re back on Monday, ready to get our heads down and get ready to put in a performance against Barnet next week.”