Stand in Captain honest in assessment of Blades loss.
Paul Keegan has said that he and his Doncaster Rovers teammates need to put some pride back in the shirt after a 1-0 defeat at the hands of local rivals Sheffield United.Keegan wore the captain’s armband in the absence of James Coppinger and called on others to stand up, starting with another derby on Saturday against Barnsley at Oakwell.
“We’ve got to get a bit of pride back in the jersey,” said the Dubliner.
“Losing home games isn’t acceptable; it’s not good enough no matter who it’s against.
“It’s disappointing because we didn’t have that battling quality or the quality on the ball and that won’t be accepted here.”
Keegan admitted that the defeat to the Blades had come as a surprise and that the team could not have been better prepared.
“Yes it was (a surprise). I think we never got going. Our passing was off and we didn’t get close enough to people,” said Keegan.
“Everyone knew their jobs and knew what we were supposed to do but you’ve got to do it on a Saturday.
“We couldn’t have been any more prepared for the game and it’s obviously very disappointing because we had a big crowd, it’s a derby game and these are the best games of the season for us. You look forward to them and we weren’t good enough.
“We’ve got to put things right. The manager has come in and is looking at players and seeing if they're going to be here next year – what he needs and what he doesn’t – people have got to perform every week and prove that they're good enough to be in this team.”