Doncaster boss Danny Schofield relieved to snap winless run

Posted Sunday, April 30, 2023 by PA

Head coach Danny Schofield spoke of his relief after Doncaster ended their winless run at nine matches with a 1-0 victory over Colchester.

Rovers’ form over the final three months of the campaign has been poor, seeing them slip from play-off contention and put them on course for a bottom-half finish.

That has brought inevitable pressure on Schofield, who was therefore pleased to sign off his side’s home campaign with a win, courtesy of Tommy Rowe’s first-half strike.

Schofield said: “It’s relief more than enjoyment for me. To get that result at this stage of the season is a big relief personally. I’ll never stop working hard and never stop fighting and I think you could see that today from the players.

“It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been on a tough 14 games or so. To get that win at home, in the last home game of the season, is a really positive thing to do.

“I asked the lads to step up their game in terms of defending balls into the box, which we’ve faced a lot and conceded in that aspect of the game. We competed more in this one and got the win as a by-product of that.

“Even though we were under pressure, I did feel as though we were in control in those situations.

“It’s not a lack of effort why we’ve been losing, it was key moments and they had a real energy to get that side of things right.”

Colchester boss Ben Garner took aim at the officials as he declared his frustration at seeing his side’s unbeaten run ended after eight matches.

Garner was involved in several fiery exchanges with the match officials during the second half as the U’s looked to level – and felt a last-gasp John Akinde shot had crossed the line before being batted away by Doncaster goalkeeper Louis Jones.

“I don’t know how we lost and I’m very frustrated,” he said. “We had enough good opportunities but didn’t take them and then gave a soft one away that gave them the chance to cling on for three points.

“We weren’t as clinical, ruthless or sharp as we have been, but the players have given everything over the last few weeks. They were probably just lacking two or three per cent – that’s all that was missing and, other than the goal, there was nothing else from them.

“I thought it was hard to get any momentum in the game. The match should always be about players, but I thought the officials made it about them too much.

“They should leave it to the players to decide the outcome. The ball looked like it was over the line with the last shot of the game.”