Paul Trollope believes Bristol Rovers face the toughest week of their season so far as they look to stem a losing run stretched to three games by their weekend derby defeat to Yeovil.

The Pirates head into what is expected to be a sell-out home game against League One leaders Leeds tomorrow before travelling to fourth-placed MK Dons on Saturday.

And the manager insists it is vital his players stand up and be counted as they look to reverse a run which has seen them take only four points from the last 15 – although they remain in the top six.

"We have got a tough week ahead – on paper the toughest week of the season," said Trollope.

"We are going into it on the back of three disappointments, but it is a time to show what we are about both physically and mentally because we know it will be a tough test against Leeds.

"It will be a big crowd, they are one of the best teams – if not the best team – in the division, so we know the challenge is there – and that will also be the case when we go to MK Dons at the end of the week.

"We need to clear our minds and show a real strong unity and mentality to be able to cope with the next two games.

We are still in the top six. Obviously it is tightening up below us now, so it is time to put things right. We will try and do that on Tuesday."

Bristol Rovers dominated the opening period against the Glovers and then took the lead early in the second half through Chris Dickson.

But Jonathan Obika and Terrell Forbes netted in a four-minute second-half spell to turn the game on its head and bank Yeovil's first away win under boss Terry Skiverton.

"If we can start the game in a similar fashion on Tuesday night, we can cause Leeds problems," said Trollope.

"There were a lot of decent things that went on against Yeovil, but obviously the second half will stick in people's minds because we conceded two poor goals and got caught on the counter-attack a lot when we went for it at the end.

"We started the game very brightly and it all seemed to be going to plan, apart from getting the lead.

"We pushed them back from the kick-off and managed to get some good play and create some good chances.

"We had spoken about not starting second halves well recently, but we did that with a well-taken goal from Dicko, and thought then that we could draw Yeovil out a bit and maybe create a few spaces to get a second.

"But the following period was a huge disappointment and we gave a catalogue of fouls away, needless fouls at times, which led to balls going in our box.

"With the wind how it was and our defending how it was, we couldn't cope. Two quick goals meant that we were chasing the game – a position we should never have been in.

"The two wide free-kicks we conceded from were massive disappointments, and there is work to do on the training ground.

"Defending set-pieces in general has been very good this year. We have not conceded too many goals, so we need to look at that and see what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Bristol Rovers could well be without midfielder Chris Lines tomorrow after he was taken off on a stretcher late in the first half on Saturday.

"Luckily, we believe it is only soft tissue injury on his shin," said Trollope. "We were not sure to start with - hence the splint and the stretcher – and we are not sure how long he will be out."