Gaffer calls for spark from his side to keep season alive.
Darren Ferguson admitted that his side face a tough assignment when they face Rochdale in a battle of the roses clash at Spotland on Saturday.In a game which will have major implications at both ends of the League One table, Ferguson has called on his side to breathe life in to their ailing campaign with victory.
“We have to take the positives from the Blackpool game in to the Rochdale game and while it’s a different game, a different opposition, what we saw on Monday was a lot more aggression, more headers, tackles and second balls won and all the things we need at the moment,” said the Scot.
“You hope that that one win gets you up and running again and we know we need that soon.
“It’s a case of really having a clear focus on every game that you play individually; we did against Blackpool there’s no question and again we’re here saying a similar thing.
“I think we need to get that win soon and you hope then that it can catapult another few wins.
“I saw it at Peterborough and Colchester themselves have won the last couple so you just have to hope that that one win comes soon to give you the belief that we can go on and get more wins to get out of it but we’ve made it difficult for ourselves, there’s no getting away from it.”
The fact that Rovers are unlikely to be able to call upon midfielder Paul Keegan (hamstring) for the remainder of the campaign only further heightened Doncaster’s woes.
“Keegan is definitely out, out for a period of time – it could be the season – as he’s torn his hamstring so it will be four weeks minimum for Paul which is a blow because of all the experience he brings to us so not good news on that front, unfortunately,” said Ferguson.
“You look at Easter and think they're two massive, must win games. We came out with two defeats and most people probably think we’re doomed now so whether that takes the pressure off the players I don’t know.
“They (Rochdale) are a very good team, have lots of mobility, play as a diamond (in midfield) and have got the ability to change in that system.
“They’ve got a lot of pace and a lot of good footballers so it’s going to be a tough ask. It’s always a tough game there; we’ve got to make sure we expose them in terms of getting control of the game.”