Liam Mandeville was disappointed to exit the Checkatrade Trophy after a penalty shootout defeat away to Rochdale at the second round stage.
Mandeville scored the equaliser in the second half to take the game to penalties, but despite the shootout loss, the forward believes the competition has been beneficial to his development.
“It’s disappointing to go out because this competition has been good for young players such as myself and Alfie Beestin to stake a claim for a spot in the starting XI,” Mandeville said.
“The penalty shootout is a lottery though, we started well and if we got that early goal I think we’d have gone on to win it.
“I think that I started the game well and kept the ball well too, I got my goal in the second half but then I started to tire so I wasn’t as involved as I would’ve liked to in the final 15 minutes.”
Mandeville’s start in the competition was his first since the last Group H game against Scunthorpe back in October, and he hopes that he can use his performance at the Crown Oil Arena as a springboard for more starts in the future.
“It’s difficult when you aren’t starting, but this season I haven’t hit the heights that I know I can do, I know I can be starting and I’m starting to pick up form now and I’ve got three goals in my last four starts,” he said.
“You have to accept that you’ll have bad games, it’s nothing to do with ability because it just happens sometimes, it’s all about how you react to it and how you come back into the side.
“I’m quite a laid-back character so maybe I don’t show my passion as much, but I’m determined to get into the side and get a good run of form going because I want to show to everyone how passionate I am, and I want to do well.”
Tickets for Rovers’ FA Cup second round tie against Scunthorpe United at the Keepmoat Stadium are available from the Club Doncaster Box Office, on 01302 762576 or at tickets.clubdoncaster.co.uk