That's the message from midfielder Mark Wilson, with Rovers not just among the Championship long-shots any more, but most definitely in the cluster of fancied runners and riders as they bid to last the course in 2010-11.
Two impressive mid-table finishes over the past two seasons have marked out Rovers - tipped as relegation candidates in 2008-9 and 2009-10 - as a dark horse and one to watch.
Two seasons ago Donny - rock-bottom at Christmas - ignited their campaign with a Yuletide double over Nottingham Forest and Burnley, en route to a four-match winning streak and a jet-propelled second half of the campaign which represented promotion form. Their return of 13 wins was bettered only by champions Wolves.
Last term the Keepmoat Stadium outfit, buoyed by four successive victories in December, flirted with the play-offs following a steady first few months of the new year, only to fall away in the final furlong after a run of just one victory in their final six league outings.
Fast forward to now and after a solid start to the campaign everything is in place for Rovers - who would have jumped to fifth but for Swansea City's last-gasp leveller in their 1-1 Keepmoat draw on November 20 - to walk the play-off walk and potentially follow the much-publicised path of Blackpool.
Plenty of hard yards between now and May will have to be negotiated before then, but Wilson is adamant that it remains a realistic aim if Rovers avoid the perils of complacency - something that shouldn't be an issue given that grounded boss Sean O'Driscoll simply wouldn't countenance it.
Of a push for the play-offs, Wilson said: "Why not? Our squad is
certainly good enough.
"Our goal is to be in the pack and within touching distance (by Christmas), to be honest. It's then important you go out of the Christmas and new year period with a bit of momentum.
"We're on target. You can say the last few seasons, we've looked to consolidate and not get relegated.
"But you look at the squad of players we have, and the talent we have in the team, and it (the play-offs) has to be the target.
"And it's important the players raise that bar upwards and we do maintain our goals we had at the start of the season at the end of it.
"We've got a great group. The players do drive the standards, and the manager does as well, but he likes the players to. Hopefully, we'll get to where we want to be.
"The progress we have made year-in, year-out has been great. We've got to a level now which we have to maintain and complacency is always
going to be the biggest problem with us.
"But we've got a talented group of players and, for me, we can achieve great things this year.
"It's important we keep that bar high and keep performing."
While disappointment reigned after the dramatic denouement to the recent game with the high-flying Swans, Rovers did at least prove they could trade footballing punches every inch of the way with the much-lauded Welshmen - despite O'Driscoll's pre-match assertion that Brendan Rodgers' upwardly-mobile promotion-chasers were "miles ahead" of the South Yorkshiremen.
Wilson insists it was just an astute piece of kidology from the Rovers boss, who is happiest when his side slips under the radar.
And don't expect the softly-spoken Midlander to engage in wanton talk about Donny emerging as Yorkshire's top dogs in a White Rose- flavoured division containing four near neighbours either - something he leaves firmly to supporters.
Scunthorpe-born schemer Wilson, who penned a new two-year-deal in the summer, added: "I think the gaffer is very clever with the way he deals
with things and we understand that.
"As much as he talks teams up, we are well aware of our capabilities. He's quite cute and we accept what he says."
On the Yorkshire 'top dogs' issue, he added: "We tend not to thing about it, though there probably is a little bit of 'needle' in there when we play those (Yorkshire) teams.
"We always want to come out on top and if do that, fantastic. We'll see."
Two impressive mid-table finishes over the past two seasons have marked out Rovers - tipped as relegation candidates in 2008-9 and 2009-10 - as a dark horse and one to watch.
Two seasons ago Donny - rock-bottom at Christmas - ignited their campaign with a Yuletide double over Nottingham Forest and Burnley, en route to a four-match winning streak and a jet-propelled second half of the campaign which represented promotion form. Their return of 13 wins was bettered only by champions Wolves.
Last term the Keepmoat Stadium outfit, buoyed by four successive victories in December, flirted with the play-offs following a steady first few months of the new year, only to fall away in the final furlong after a run of just one victory in their final six league outings.
Fast forward to now and after a solid start to the campaign everything is in place for Rovers - who would have jumped to fifth but for Swansea City's last-gasp leveller in their 1-1 Keepmoat draw on November 20 - to walk the play-off walk and potentially follow the much-publicised path of Blackpool.
Plenty of hard yards between now and May will have to be negotiated before then, but Wilson is adamant that it remains a realistic aim if Rovers avoid the perils of complacency - something that shouldn't be an issue given that grounded boss Sean O'Driscoll simply wouldn't countenance it.
Of a push for the play-offs, Wilson said: "Why not? Our squad is
certainly good enough.
"Our goal is to be in the pack and within touching distance (by Christmas), to be honest. It's then important you go out of the Christmas and new year period with a bit of momentum.
"We're on target. You can say the last few seasons, we've looked to consolidate and not get relegated.
"But you look at the squad of players we have, and the talent we have in the team, and it (the play-offs) has to be the target.
"And it's important the players raise that bar upwards and we do maintain our goals we had at the start of the season at the end of it.
"We've got a great group. The players do drive the standards, and the manager does as well, but he likes the players to. Hopefully, we'll get to where we want to be.
"The progress we have made year-in, year-out has been great. We've got to a level now which we have to maintain and complacency is always
going to be the biggest problem with us.
"But we've got a talented group of players and, for me, we can achieve great things this year.
"It's important we keep that bar high and keep performing."
While disappointment reigned after the dramatic denouement to the recent game with the high-flying Swans, Rovers did at least prove they could trade footballing punches every inch of the way with the much-lauded Welshmen - despite O'Driscoll's pre-match assertion that Brendan Rodgers' upwardly-mobile promotion-chasers were "miles ahead" of the South Yorkshiremen.
Wilson insists it was just an astute piece of kidology from the Rovers boss, who is happiest when his side slips under the radar.
And don't expect the softly-spoken Midlander to engage in wanton talk about Donny emerging as Yorkshire's top dogs in a White Rose- flavoured division containing four near neighbours either - something he leaves firmly to supporters.
Scunthorpe-born schemer Wilson, who penned a new two-year-deal in the summer, added: "I think the gaffer is very clever with the way he deals
with things and we understand that.
"As much as he talks teams up, we are well aware of our capabilities. He's quite cute and we accept what he says."
On the Yorkshire 'top dogs' issue, he added: "We tend not to thing about it, though there probably is a little bit of 'needle' in there when we play those (Yorkshire) teams.
"We always want to come out on top and if do that, fantastic. We'll see."