Gaffer reflects on his first game in temporary charge and suffering a late defeat.
Despite a 2-0 defeat at Walsall on Saturday, temporary manager Rob Jones was adamant that Doncaster will “go again” in what he termed a “whirlwind week”.The 35 year old watched on as his troops were defeated by a late Tom Bradshaw brace which sent the hosts in to the top two.
“I can take an awful lot of positives from today’s game. Yes we got beat 2-0 but they scored their first goal in the 86th minute.
“We created opportunities and chances but we need to create clear-cut chances and put them away. I’ll be positive from now on in and we’ll go again.
“It’s been a whirlwind, as you would expect but I got the phone call on Tuesday when I was doing the U21’s game so the mind veers towards that I’m afraid but I’ve loved every minute of it this week.
“The most important thing to me is getting on the training pitch. The losing side of it I can do without but it’s been great for me and the reaction of the players has been even better.”
Rovers were thwarted by a stubborn Saddlers outfit and Jones called for some context and patience as attentions turn to hosting Oldham Athletic at Keepmoat Stadium on Saturday.
“What I will say is we’re not far away. When you look around the dressing room, there’s an abundance of talent, work rate and people who want to do well and progress,” he said.
“When you have those three ingredients you have every chance. We created more chances than last week and defended resolutely as two banks of four and the one man in the hole.
“There’s a lot to do next week. I’ve got a full week of making my team mould in to the way I want to play.
“It’s the back end of a strange week for all of us. The boys have been magnificent on Thursday, Friday and today and have given me everything they possibly could.
“We had opportunities and chances; again the keeper has won man of the match and if one of those goes in then it changes the complexion of the game. I was proud of them because they kept going right until the end and there are things that I need to look at during the week.”
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