With injuries and suspensions mounting and a five-game winless run, Bristol Rovers are in a difficult moment, but goalkeeper James Belshaw is confident the Gas will be "more than fine" this season.
The 2-0 defeat at Ipswich Town on Tuesday dropped Rovers to 18th in League One with eight points from as many games, but what was perhaps more damaging than the result was the late red cards for centre-backs Alfie Kilgour and Bobby Thomas, compounding the shortage of defenders available to Joey Barton for Saturday's game against Lincoln City.
Belshaw has only been a Rovers player for little more than 12 months, but that is long enough to know a few things about the club, joking "we do things the hard way" when speaking to the press at Portman Road on Tuesday.
For all the challenges they have encountered early in the season, Belshaw is sure Rovers will overcome them.
"We’ve got a squad capable of winning games of football, even with players missing," he said. "Yeah, we’ve got a few injuries and it makes it more difficult, but we will have lads who will step in and we’ll be absolutely fine.
"It’s never perfect with Rovers. We do things the hard way, we saw that last year. No doubt, the XI selected by the gaffer on Saturday will be more than capable of winning a game at home against Lincoln.
"I firmly believe we’ll be more than fine this season. We’ve got a good group of lads and good management. The club, from where it was just before I and the other lads came in, I think is going in the right direction. From the outside looking in, I don’t think it was before.
"It was a monumental task to turn this around. We’re not living on the past and last season because it is a new season and ultimately you are judged on your weekly performances, but the club is in a good spot.
"We’ve got a fantastic owner, we’ve got great management staff and we’ve got a good bunch of lads who will do anything for the cause and we’ll be absolutely fine."
League One leaders Ipswich were deserving winners at Portman Road on Tuesday, with Conor Chaplin and Lee Evans scoring either side of half time to secure the three points for Kieran McKenna's side.
It was a chastening experience for Rovers at times, with the Tractor Boys in full flow and backed by a crowd in excess of 22,000, but Belshaw believes it will not be those nights that define Rovers' season. Instead, he believes they have to maximise their haul of points at home to ensure a comfortable season in the third tier.
"They’re a good side but our season is not going to be defined by how we do on nights like this," he added. "We’ve got a big game at home on Saturday against Lincoln at the Mem. We’re at home the week after against Accrington, so these are the games that we’ve got to get results in.
"We were frustrated and unfortunate to only come out of the Shrewsbury and Morecambe games with two points. I think we deserved more from those games but we’re still learning, we’re a new group and we’ll be absolutely fine.
"League One is a tough league and we’re still new to the level. We’ve got a younger group than we had last year, probably a bit less experience, but we’ve still got the core. We’ve got myself, Couttsy, Whelo, Azza, Evo, Sam, so we’ve still got good players to build around.
"But it takes time. We’ve just been promoted on the back of this wave and it’s not going to be plain sailing. We’re going to have tough moments, but this season is not going to be defined by how we do at Portsmouth or Ipswich away, it’s about how do against the teams that are probably going to be in and around us this season."
Thomas was sent off after picking up two yellow cards late in the piece at Portman Road. It was the Burnley loanee's second appearance for the Gas and he will miss Saturday's visit of Lincoln to the Mem.
But Belshaw has liked what he has seen from the 21-year-old since he joined on deadline day and he is confident Thomas will use Tuesday as a learning experience.
Belshaw added: "Bobby has come in and has put in performances beyond his years. He’s very mature and it looks like he’ll have a helluva career, but in a weird sort of way, nights like this will help him. He’s come here with a big crowd and he’ll learn from that.
"As a footballer and a centre-half, you are going to get red cards in your career. In a way, it could help him and he’ll learn from it.
"I’d do anything for any one of the lads in there and anyone else would, so we’ll rally around him and Alf. And that’s not why we lost the game, the game was done probably just before that."
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