Paul Coutts believes a win for Bristol Rovers against Salford City on Good Friday will eradicate the "disappointment" they felt following the weekend's draw at Tranmere Rovers.
The Gas came from behind to draw 1-1 against their promotion rivals at Prenton Park on Saturday, with a neat turn and finish from Elliot Anderson quickly cancelling out Kane Hemmings' second-half strike. A point on the road can rarely be a source for frustration, but Joey Barton's players left Merseyside with a sense of an opportunity missed, such was the control they exerted on the game.
Rovers dropped to sixth place in League Two, five points adrift of the automatic promotion places and two points clear of Salford in eighth, and Gas captain Coutts believes victory against the Ammies in front of what could be another sell-out crowd at the Mem would be the ideal tonic for their frustration.
"We’re just focusing on Friday," Coutts said. "We’ve got a tough Easter weekend coming up so we’ll try to get three points at home on Friday and reassess after that.
"We’re aiming as high as we can go and the gaffer came out and said after that game that he still believed we would go on and get promoted and that’s still our aim.
"We’re just focusing on ourselves. That’s all we can control. We’ve got five big games and we’ll try to take as many points as we can out of them and hopefully, it will be enough.
"Nothing will be decided but it could be a big step in the right direction. If we can win on Friday then Saturday's point turns into a good point and if we can back that up on Monday we’ll have had a great little run, so hopefully we can keep the form going."
Not for the first time in recent weeks, the Gas were tasked with breaking down a deep-set defence at Tranmere. Barton's side were able to exert control on proceedings, but a decisive goal proved elusive.
"The way the game panned out, we felt we did enough to win it, but it’s a tough place to come," Coutts said. "They’ve been up there all season and they’re one of our promotion rivals, and coming away from home, it is probably a fair point.
"We fell behind last week against Bradford and went on to win the game, so there was a real belief amongst us that we would do the same, especially when we got the equaliser with a brilliant finish from Elliot.
"We’re a little bit disappointed we didn’t get three points, but a point on the road is never a bad thing."
The squad paid tribute to the 1,188 travelling fans at Prenton Park, with some lucky Gasheads getting their hands on a souvenir when some players threw their shirts into the crowd. Coutts believes the growing support behind the Gas could be pivotal in deciding their season.
He said: "We’ve still got belief in what we’re doing and what we’re trying to achieve. The lads chucked in their shirts as a thank you for travelling around the country. It’s a long way for them to travel up here with everything that’s going on in the world.
"Hopefully, they can come out in their numbers again until the end of the season and roar us home."
Coutts has triggered a one-year contract extension at Rovers after making more than 23 league appearances this term and the former Sheffield United midfielder sees his future in BS7, but insists his only focus, for the time being, is the promotion push.
"Hopefully, I’ll stay around for next season as well, but we’re just focusing on the short-term goals at the minute," he concluded.
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