Ben Whiteman says there was no doubt in his mind he would step up to go in goal during Saturday’s goalless draw with Portsmouth.
Whiteman was forced to take Marko Marosi’s place between the sticks following the Slovakian’s dismissal 10 minutes from time, but the midfielder says he was happy to take one for the team and don the gloves.
“Hopefully I’ll not have to do that again, but it’s just one of those things that happen in football, Marko’s saved us the game really beforehand, but sometimes you have to take one for the team and obviously I’m delighted to get the clean sheet,” he said.
“It was a role reversal from last year really when they had the same happen to them, I had a chance to score in that one too when they had another player in goal, so there was no way I was going to let anyone score, and luckily I only had to hold on to one.
“I felt comfortable having to go in goal, it’s not really something I’ve done before, but I didn’t have any thoughts about doing it, I just wanted to help the boys out, and we’ve been unlucky not to get anything at the end.”
Rovers were unlucky throughout the 90 minutes not to score against Pompey, who prior to this weekend hadn’t dropped points in Sky Bet League One, but Whiteman feels Rovers will learn from the weekend’s draw and build on it when they face Blackpool in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
“We couldn’t take our chances in the final third, in the context of the game we probably dominated it throughout, but after everything that happened late on, we’re pleased to get a point out of it,” he added.
“We’re a very confident group, we went into the game confident that we could go out and win it and I think that showed really, we were brilliant throughout, and even with 10-men we were the better side.
“We’ve got another game on Tuesday now to get that win we’ve been looking for, Blackpool will be another test for us, they’ve got some experienced players in their side, but we’re focused on the next game all ready and we will be right up for it again.
Rovers face Blackpool in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday at the Keepmoat Stadium, secure your seat now from tickets.clubdoncaster.co.uk.