New Year, New Me, is usually what is said when someone wants to better themselves from the previous 12 months but that is what Bristol Rovers have done so far.
A win over promotion rivals Northampton Town on the weekend put the Gas into the dizzying heights of fourth, a position they’ve not been in all season.
Joey Barton’s men are only behind the Cobblers now on goal difference with just one goal separating them and an automatic spot ahead of another crucial week of games.
Given the agony of suffering relegation from League One in 2021, to be involved in the end-of-season run in is the excitement the Gasheads have been clamouring for.
Strides are being made at the right time with Barton likening the promotion race a number of times to the Grand National, or perhaps more fittingly Cheltenham after letting the players let their hair down last week before a crucial six-pointer at Sixfields.
Eight games are left for most teams in the division with Rovers well and truly in the mix at the business end of the season, but it is still a tightly contested table, so maintaining this run will be important.
What is most important now is that there aren’t any slip-ups in the remaining fixtures but so far there aren’t any signs of that with just two defeats since the turn of the year with Barton turning his side into a winning machine.
We take a look at how the League Two table would look if the season started on New Year’s Day:
1. 24th: Scunthorpe United - 5 points
P16 W1 D2 L13 GF7 GA31 GD-24 Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images
2. 23rd: Leyton Orient
P14 W1 D6 L7 GF9 GA17 GD-8 Photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
3. 22nd: Barrow - 11 points
P14 W2 D5 L7 GF10 GA17 GD-7 Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images
4. 21st: Rochdale - 13 points
P14 W2 D7 L5 GF11 GA19 GD-8 Photo: Pete Norton/Getty Images