James Coppinger revealed the Rovers side were inspired by attending the funeral of a popular fan the day before Saturday's 4-1 victory over Walsall in Sky Bet League One.
Coppinger, alongside his Rovers teammates, attended the funeral of Jake ‘Pieman’ Power on Friday, and he felt the experience spurred both himself and the side on to three points.
“We all went to Jake’s funeral the day before the game, and after it I felt like I was always going to score. It was a massive inspiration for me, just like it was for the rest of the lads, it really puts things into perspective,” he said.
“I’d already lined up the pie celebration before I’d scored, we’d had a chat about it before the game between the lads, but we wanted to show we understand how much Doncaster Rovers meant to him and how much it means to his family and friends too.
“It was an emotional day, but it was also inspiring for me. We’d all like to thank his family for inviting us down, it was an experience that we shared together, and it made us stronger as a team, and so that result was for him.”
Coppinger scored Rovers’ third goal in the 4-1 win at the Banks’s Stadium, and he believes that despite going behind early on the result was never in doubt from the off.
"For me it was never in any doubt that the outcome would be any different, we’ve had a great week in training and the way we’ve played in the past few games, so this has been coming for us,” he added.
“We’re going into games fully prepared, the intensity in recent weeks both in games and in training has been good, and we’ve used the disappointment from those draws and we’re turning them into wins now.
“We have a real never say die attitude, even after going 1-0 down the lads never gave up, we got back into it and won the game comfortably and that shows the change in this group.”
Rovers return to home action against Bradford City on Saturday September 22 - purchase your tickets now via the Club Doncaster Box Office, either by visiting in-store at the Keepmoat Stadium, by calling on 01302 762576, or online at tickets.clubdoncaster.co.uk.