Defender Chris Stokes sung the praises of his teammates after they battled for an important three points against Harrogate Town.

The 29-year-old, at the heart of Rovers’ impressive backline, was on call all afternoon as the hosts performed in front of a home crowd for the first time in the EFL.

It was Jamille Matt’s 57th-minute effort that separated the sides, but the talismanic Stokes helped see the game out on his 150th appearance for FGR.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, and a battle,” he explained

“It was a very different game to the one we played on Tuesday, but we rose to the battle and ground out three points.

“We showed again today that we can play both sides of the game.

“When you go to Harrogate you know it’s not going to be pretty and it’s not going to be nice, but we’ve come away with the 1-0 victory.”

While it was the grit and determination that was highlighted by boss Mark Cooper, Rovers were still able to strut their stuff at times.

“When we get the ball wide, we have players with fantastic ability who can get the ball in the box and teams are going to have a right battle to get points from us,” said Stokes

“They have real pace and power, and it’s important we capitalise when they set it up for us.”

“There are always going to be games like this one, especially in the winter, but we were able to show some real moments of quality too.”

Having knocked on the Town door from the start of the second half, it was no surprise when Matt turned home his second of the week just before the hour mark, and Stokes was quick to credit the Jamaican frontman and his importance to the side.

He said: “We’ve got ability all over the pitch, and when you’ve got Jamille Matt in the box you’re only going to need one clear chance like that.

“He puts himself about well and only needs one opportunity to win you a game. When you come somewhere like this he’ll harry defenders and take a few knocks, but at the end of the day if he sticks the ball in the net we can all leave happy.”

“Harrogate were resilient and tried to get the ball long and play off that, but we found our opportunity.”