Confidence sky high for Hoskins

Last updated : 11 March 2011 By BBC Sport

New Bristol Rovers captain Will Hoskins believes a new-found confidence will see the club climb clear of the drop.Midfielder Stuart Campbell stepped in as manager after Dave Penney's sacking and picked up three points in his first game at the helm at Tranmere Rovers.

A win against high-flying Huddersfield at the weekend could see Rovers climb out of the relegation places and Hoskins says confidence is now high.

"Surviving now is more possible than ever," Hoskins told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We're going into this game more confident than probably we have all season.

"We need to stick to our guns, be calm, collected, go into the game with a game plan and play the football that we know we can.

"We've beaten them once already this year, so let's go and beat them again."

That previous success came in October when Hoskins scored deep in stoppage time to secure a 1-0 win under Paul Trollope, the first of the club's three managers this season.

He was a great guy, but sometimes things don't work out and by them sacking him early it might give us a chance

Hoskins on Penney

"We were playing football then under 'Trolls', it was a good time and a great feeling and we haven't had many of those this year," said the 24-year-old.

But Hoskins is sure more are just around the corner with Campbell in charge.

"I've only been here this year but he's a great leader and I've seen it already, he leads by example and for him to give me the captain's armband was a proud day," he added.

"The whole place has changed. On the bus you could see the lads were buzzing. It was just us now, we've got to do it and we've got to do it as a collective.

"For someone like 'Cams' to take over, with the respect he's got off the lads, it's little things like that that give you that extra boost.

"We played football again. We didn't just lump it up and hope for the best and we used what he had in our squad to the best. That's what has been missing in recent weeks.

"Dave Penney was a great guy, but sometimes things don't work out and it obviously didn't here.

"The club have done what's best for the club and we want to move in the right direction. By them sacking him early it might give us a chance."

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport