Bristol Rovers defender Luca Hoole says his teammates are full of confidence that they can continue their good form when League promotion hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday head to the Mem on Tuesday.
Rovers have taken seven points from their past three games and won four of their past eight to cement their place in the third tier for next season, with Hoole among the best performers in Joey Barton's squad as he adjusts to life in the division.
The right-back scored in the win at Oxford United in late February and he has followed it up with a series of standout performances in Barton's back four to push Rovers beyond the 50-point mark with plenty of time to spare.
His fine individual form continued on Saturday in the Gas' 1-1 draw with Derby County, which was secured with a stoppage-time penalty from Antony Evans. But the last-gasp nature of the leveller does not tell the story of the game; Rovers dominated with 70 per cent of possession and had the Rams on the back foot for long periods of the contest despite having aspirations of making the play-offs.
Hoole believes that will inspire yet more confidence in the squad with six games to play, with the Owls next up in BS7 on Tuesday.
"I thoroughly believe we deserved at least a point and, personally, I believe we deserved all three," Hoole said, reflecting on the game "Obviously, they had the chance early on and the chance at the end when Belly has come up with a good save to save our point. We probably should have walked away with a victory, but I’m glad we got a point.
"Even at the end of the first half, they were time-wasting and sitting back and I’m thinking ‘They’ve come here to stake a claim that they should be promoted and they’re time-wasting’, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get all three points.
"It was difficult, we had to be patient. We had a lot of touches around the back four, going side to side and luckily it paid dividends at the end.
"We can take big confidence from that. When we came in at half time, everyone was saying it was so weird that we were 1-0 down because they were time-wasting, they were sat off. I’m thinking ‘You guys are going for promotion and you’re sitting off us’, when it probably should be us sitting off them.
"It was tough, it was difficult to break them down and we had to be patient. I’m glad we got a point but we should have taken all three."
Barton is intent on not letting these final games go to waste despite there being little on the line in terms of the league table for Rovers; the manager has increasingly aired the message that he wants his team to challenge for promotion next term, and with a stacked fixture list against contending teams to finish the campaign, it is a valuable fact-finding mission on where Rovers are and what they need to do.
But Hoole says Saturday's performance shows that on their day, they are not a million miles away from where they need to be.
"It’s a confidence thing and when we have performances like that against teams that used to be in the Prem, we’re thinking ‘Well, not only do we deserve to be in this league but next season, hopefully, we’ll be pushing to get out of it’," he added. "That is definitely the gaffer’s message, he wants to get out of this league and into the Championship as soon as possible. We’ve all got the confidence to go and do it.
"The main thing is we have managed to sort out the goals, we were leaking goals midway through the season but we have managed to get a solid chin and if we do concede one, hopefully we don’t concede another and we still have enough to go and score another goal.
"The belief is running all through the team and we believe we can beat any team on our day."
The 20-year-old is in just his second full season as a senior professional after enjoying a breakout campaign as Rovers were promoted from League Two. There have been struggles as Hoole has stepped up to the level, with Barton having to manage him carefully through dips in form, which have been ridden out in some style.
Hoole is always a composed, confident speaker, but the comfort he displays when articulating his thoughts to reporters is indicative of a player who has found his feet.
"Last season, I came in around Christmas time and the whole team clicked," he recalled. "It was like win after win, so it wasn’t me as such, it was the whole team doing well and I was in the team and I just had to do well.
"This season, we just got promoted into League One, a new division and I feel like maybe we were just a bit unsettled, but now it’s all clicked.
"I would have preferred not to have left it so late, but I feel like I’m going well at the moment and, hopefully, I can carry it on."
Darren Moore's Owls visit BS7 on Tuesday after suffering a hammer blow to their automatic promotion hopes on Saturday, losing 3-2 to Burton Albion and they need to win to keep pace with Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town in pursuit of place in the top two.
For 15th-placed Rovers, the threat of relegation has completely faded and they are targeting a place in the top half before the end of the season, and Hoole says the team is enjoying an absence or pressure.
"The pressure was all on Derby on Saturday and the pressure on Tuesday is all on Sheffield Wednesday because they have to win," he said. "If they want to get the automatics, they have to win.
"They will be looking at us thinking it is a game they probably should win, so the pressure is off us and we’ve hit good form. We’ve taken seven points from nine and we’re going into Tuesday thinking we’re going to win the game.
"It will definitely be a good game and we all believe we are going to get three points on Tuesday."
Looking to the future, Hoole is likely to settle in as a centre-half in the coming years, possessing the physical and technical gifts required to thrive at the position, although he is in no rush to make the move insight from right-back.
"I think now I am a right-back in the sense of I am still learning my craft, but any manager or any coach, whether that’s with the 21s or the first team, has told me they think I’m going to be a centre-back when I’m older with my height," he said.
"When I’m a bit older and wiser and I fill out a bit, they think I’ll be a centre-back, and I enjoy playing centre-back. I learned a lot playing there this season in the first 20 games.
"I found it tough, but it also helped me playing at right-back because I know what the centre-back wants and needs. So I do like playing there, but for now, I definitely prefer right back."
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