Grant McCann remains grounded despite guiding Doncaster to the play-offs

Posted Sunday, April 28, 2024 by PA

Grant McCann is not getting ahead of himself after guiding Doncaster to the Sky Bet League Two play-offs.

The South Yorkshire side were held to a 2-2 draw by Gillingham after goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala was sent off early in the second half.

The point was enough to secure fifth place and means Rovers will face Crewe in the two-legged semi-finals.

“I’m really proud of our football club. Everyone associated with it from the owners to everyone who works around the training ground, the stadium, the fans, and obviously the ones who put the hard yards in and that’s the players.

“It’s a great day for us, but it’s only the first step. I said that to the players in the dressing room.

“I’m really proud of them. We’ve been written off this season many, many times. People were saying we aren’t good enough and things like that.

“We never once shied away from the fact that we can. I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to put ourselves in there.

“I think we’ve been outstanding for the last 30 or 31 games. I wouldn’t say it’s an achievement yet, the achievement would be getting promoted.

“We’ve done well to get to this point. We’ll keep our feet firmly on the ground and prepare for the play-off game when it comes.”

Up against middle-of-the-table Gillingham, Rovers took the lead through Joe Ironside on the half-hour.

Luke Molyneux doubled the visitors’ advantage with a fine strike before Lo-Tutala was shown a red card for handling the ball out of the area.

Timothee Dieng’s powerful strike found its way past substitute keeper Louis Jones to halve the deficit, before Josh Andrews’ tap-in went in off Doncaster defender Tom Anderson just a few minutes later to level proceedings.

The game filtered out to a draw as Gillingham ended the season in 12th place, six points adrift of the play-offs.

Gills boss Stephen Clemence issued a call to action to his players as thoughts already turn to next season.

He said: “I’m pleased we’ve come away with something, but I wanted to win the game. There were some things that had to be said in the second half.

“It’s always difficult for players when one team still has play-off ambitions, and one doesn’t. It’s a big test.

“The boys showed great character. I’ve challenged them for next season. We will try to get some help for the boys to improve the squad.

“Going forward we need a winning mentality, not lose, not draw. There has to be a big mentality shift for some of them if they want to have good careers.

“We could have won it in the end. But to come from two goals behind is well done.”