Doncaster Rovers: Grant McCann may cancel next year's Christmas present to players after '˜flat' Fleetwood defeat

Grant McCann says he will seriously consider his Christmas Day plans for Doncaster Rovers next year after their flat performance at Fleetwood Town.
Grant McCannGrant McCann
Grant McCann

Rovers were undone by three defensive mistakes as they suffered a 3-0 defeat at Highbury on Boxing Day.

It came a day after McCann had given his players a break from training to be with their families before travelling across to the north west.

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A brace from Paddy Madden plus an Ashley Hunter strike gave Fleetwood a comfortable win in a game which Rovers arguably had the better of the play without producing much threat.

And the manner of the performance had McCann pointing the finger of blame at himself.

'I said to the players that it was my fault because I did not have them training on Christmas Day,' McCann said.

'I told them they looked like a team that was just put together on the pitch and they were all doing their own thing.

'That won't happen again.

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'We looked like a pretty football team with no creativity and aggression at the end of it.

'That was the most disappointing thing for me.'

McCann has given his players Christmas Day off from training since moving into management and says it would be easy to use that as an excuse for the defeat.

But he insists there is no excusing the manner of the performance.

'I've not had my teams in on Christmas Day for the last three years, although we have travelled on the night,' he said.

'We looked flat today.

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'I'm still learning about the group and that is the first time we've not trained the day before a game.

'Christmas is about spending it with your family.

'But, saying this, Fleetwood were not flat and they had Christmas Day off.

'It's easy to use that as an excuse but I felt today we did not look our normal self at all.'

McCann confirmed Matty Blair missed the game after taking ill in the team hotel the night before the game.

He expects Blair to be fit for Saturday's trip to Gillingham, which will be a timely return with Shaun Cummings suffering a groin injury in the first half and being forced off at half time.