Doncaster Rovers perilously close to the League One relegation trapdoor

Charlton Athletic ran out one-nil winners away at Doncaster Rovers, which hammered another nail into the coffin of Doncaster’s ill-fated League One campaign.

Rovers’ defeat was further compounded by Gillingham’s 2-1 away victory at Accrington Stanley, which extended their advantage over the South Yorkshire outfit to seven points.

On their showing yesterday afternoon against The Addicks, it was a race that Doncaster was never really at the races in. The visitors were excellent from the opening moments and never really looked back on an afternoon they dominated despite Connor Washington missing his 14th-minute penalty.

The visitors had already missed a hatful of chances before Jayden Stockley finally converted on 67 minutes to seal Charlton’s victory.

Goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell was primarily the reason why the scoreline was kept respectable on Saturday, making several important saves as Charlton sliced through the home defence like a hot knife through butter.

Man of the match Mitchell was quizzed at full time about whether he felt his teammates had let him down on the afternoon and gauged his thoughts on Rover’s chances of staying afloat.

“No, we’re a team and we just unfortunately couldn’t get the goal at the end there. To get wasn’t to be but we are looking out for each other. It wasn’t just me, Ben Jackson blocked on the line today, which also kept us in so we’ll keep fighting for each other.

“I think you’ve got to (keep going). I mean, what’s the point of doing anything in life if you don’t believe that you can achieve anything? We know it’s a massively difficult task, but we will keep fighting to the end.”

For the home side, they had rarely threatened and continued to look toothless in front of goal. It was not until the 96th minute that they registered their first attempt on the Charlton goal, with skipper Tommy Rowe almost conjuring up an equalizer to have grabbed an unlikely point.

The home side struggled to put any consistent passages of play together and looked largely spent as an attacking force until the final moments when they won a number of set-pieces but could not make them count.

For the majority of the 90 minutes, Joe Dodoo and Jordi Hiwula were easy enough to manage for the Charlton backline, and the introduction of Josh Martin seemed too little too late.

John Bostock appeared as another late second-half substitute but at least got his foot on the ball to try and inject some rhythm into Rovers’ game. The former Crystal Palace midfielders set pieces from promising positions, ultimately disappointed as the home crowd encouraged their side on for an equalizer.

At full time, boss McSheffrey was disappointed that his side lacked the composure against a professional Charlton outfit.

“We were lucky to be in the game at halftime. Second half, we made a game of it, created a couple of chances, created a bit of momentum, but ultimately we gave a cheap goal away again from an unforced error.

“It was going to happen because we got off lightly first off with three or four errors and they should have punished us. Johnny made a couple of good saves to keep us in it.

“We looked for a little bit more courage on the ball, especially composure in key areas of the pitch. We didn’t get that and we got lucky in moments with people trying to play too much.

They’re seeing passes because they’re a bit nervous and trying to get rid of the ball too soon instead of being composed. It was the difference today as they have good players. “

From the 21 games that McSheffrey has taken charge of, Doncaster have won five, drawn two and lost fourteen. At home, they have struggled with ten defeats out of 12 fixtures in front of their own fans under the former Coventry City winger.

Despite the doom and gloom following the result and Gillingham’s victory, McSheffrey continued to remain upbeat that his side could still pull off the greatest of escapes when asked where the club go from this point.

“We just come back in on Monday and we pick the bones out of it. We’ll train and get prepped for Wycombe, which is going to be really difficult next week. We have to crack on with it, train hard and try to get a reaction.

“Before today, we’re probably looking at a minimum of four (wins) and a draw. Ultimately, we still need four, five (wins) out of six which is a big task but doable.”

Doncaster’s run-in will see them face promotion-chasing Wycombe and Oxford, but there are the likes of Shrewsbury, Burton and Bolton games amongst that run who have little to play for. Crewe are all but relegated and will visit Doncaster on the 9th of April, which is a must-win game.

With Gillingham leapfrogging over Fleetwood Town into 19th place, there are still four points separating Doncaster from safety. With Fleetwood still yet to play fellow strugglers Wimbledon, Gillingham, Crewe and Lincoln City, there may well be a twist in the tale yet, but Doncaster have to remain focussed on the job at hand and get points on the board.

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