The Rovers stalwart has been in the game long enough to know that little quirks of fortune and a break here and there can totally change things.

And with the memory of 12 months ago firmly in his mind, he isn't giving credence to any doom-mongering talk even though Rovers having gone into yesterday's derby at Barnsley on the back of a five-match losing streak having breached the net just once last month.

Early season for Rovers last term was also pretty sobering, with Sean O'Driscoll's men winning just three times in their opening nine games. This time a year ago, they were stranded in 16th place with some supporters even calling for the head of the manager.

Rovers fans won't need reminding what happened after that, with the crescendo reached at Wembley in late May.

This time around and the aims are far more prosaic, namely staying up in the Championship, but Walker, for one, is confident the tide will turn for Rovers, who lost 2-0 in their derby encounter with Sheffield United on Tuesday evening.

And, reassuringly, Rovers followers – many of whom were watching non-league fare just over five years ago – are keeping a sense of perspective and continuing to back their heroes, being pragmatic enough to accept Doncaster were likely to have a sticky spell at some point this term.

And playing a local derby against the Blades for the first time in 25 years in midweek also underlined to the more seasonal Rovers fans just how far they have come in recent years.

Harking back to a calendar year ago, Walker said: "It's almost a case of déjà vu. And it would be nice if this season finished like last!

"Sean, Richard (O'Kelly) and the coaching staff were in the same situation then and belief is the word. We'll continue to have belief in what we do.

"We've got to take the positives to pick the players up. Sean will be disappointed inside, it's just not happening for us in the final six yards at the moment.

"The crowd, judging by the thermometer of being down when it's cold and up when it's hot, were magnificent on Tuesday.

"Even at 2-0 down they got behind the lads and supported them and it was nice to see. They could do no more.

"On the positive side, the lads are playing well. We believe we can beat anyone in this league on our day and we got into this league doing the right things and we will continue to do so. We got promotion by doing that.

"If we were in the situation where it was April and we'd lost five on the bounce, we'd be worried. But there's no panic here.

"I'm convinced the players aren't panicking.