Rovers fell to a 2-0 defeat away at Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday evening, but Grant McCann praised his side’s performance in the second half.
It took three goal line clearances, a superb save and more than a few blocks to prevent Rovers from scoring a well-deserved goal but with Rovers already trailing by two goals at the break, McCann feels his side gave themselves too much to do.
“I thought we started the game very poorly, in fact we were poor for the whole first half.” McCann said.
“It was really frustrating but second half I thought we were outstanding. That’s the way we know we can play, creating chance after chance after and yes, the ball didn’t go in the net, but I’ll never have a go at my players for missing a chance because it means they’ve got in the right area.
“The ball just wasn’t going to go in. There were a lot of blocks from their defenders, I don’t think they’ll block as many shots as that again in a game, but credit has to go to Shrewsbury. They took their chances when we didn’t.”
Grant McCann also reserved praise for James Coppinger, who had a big impact when he came on at half-time, and Andy Butler, who was called upon in the first half when Tom Anderson was forced off with a head injury.
“Copps was excellent second half, he found pockets, got us on the ball and got us up the pitch. He was a breath of fresh air and his composure brought composure to everyone else on the pitch,” he said.
“I don’t know how bad Tom Anderson’s injury is yet. He went up for a header and he’s got a bit of concussion, but Andy Butler came on and was excellent.
“We’ve got to realise now that every game is going to be a fight. Every game is an opportunity, we’ve got 13 games left, 13 opportunities to get to where we want to be.”
Rovers return to the Keepmoat Stadium to take on Charlton Athletic on Saturday March 2, with tickets available now from tickets.clubdoncaster.co.uk.