Doncaster Rovers captain Owen Bailey on "reality check" as his manager warns off summer suitors
Owen Bailey says he and his Doncaster Rovers colleagues are determined to end the season strongly and bounce back from their Easter horror show.
Rovers lost back-to-back games over the bank holiday, beaten 2-0 at home by Mansfield before a rotten 3-0 reversal down at Exeter. Those results dragged Grant McCann's side back into the relegation picture although the general feeling is that one more win should bat away any drop fears. The next chance to do that comes at home to Reading on Saturday.
"Our thoughts have always been on how high we can finish in the table," Bailey, this week nominated for the League One player of the season at the EFL Awards, told BBC Radio Sheffield.
"I don't think anyone has taken their eye off the ball, it's just been a bit of a reality check really. These two losses have come out of the blue and the significance of where Exeter were in the league it heightens it as well. But it's important to remember it's just two games and that we've got five more left and plenty of chances to turn it around.
"There's a lot of regrets, frustration and annoyance because we know how much better we can be than we've shown in those two games. It seemed across the two games everything that could go wrong did go wrong at times. As much as we played poorly, there was some bad luck involved but it's important we bounce back now."
On his aforementioned nomination, the 27-year-old - who has a staggering 15 goals in all competitions so far - said: "It's definitely a special feeling. To get recognised is a massive thing and I'm delighted and really grateful for it."
He'll find out whether he has won the prestigious award - in which he goes up against Leyton Orient's Dom Ballard and Lincoln pair Sonny Bradley and Jack Moylan - at a swanky London ceremony on April 19. Being nominated has the potential to alleviate Bailey's status ahead of the transfer market opening this summer. So, does his manager fear that his captain could be the target of clubs higher up the food chain?
"Bails has still got two years left after this. He's got a year and a year's club option, so we're under no sort of stress on that side of it," McCann replied.
"It would take a serious amount of money to prise him or Luke Molyneux, for example, away from this football club. When you're in the bracket of top four players in the division, supported by your peers or whatever it might be, then the price tag absolutely will rise. But it would take a lot to get him away from the football club."