'˜I don't want to be a League One manager' - Darren Ferguson sends out timely message as Doncaster Rovers draw up plans for next season

The Scot - who was this week the subject of speculation about his own future in the national media - is due to finalise his budget for next term with the board before Saturday’s final game of the season against Wigan Athletic.

This season’s remit to consolidate back in League One has been met by Ferguson and his players.

The expectation from supporters will be that Doncaster make a concerted push for the top six next season - in line with Rovers’ five-year plan to be a sustainable Championship club by 2022.

“We need to keep improving and the players need to keep improving,” said Ferguson.

“The squad has improved over the last two seasons.

“But we’ve got to continue doing that.

“And that’s the key thing for me for this club.

“I’ve got to make sure everyone’s on board in terms of me progressing the football club.”

He added: “That’s part of the remit [not to stagnate] and that’s got to happen.

“I don’t want to be a League One manager and I’ve made that clear.

“The players don’t want to be in League One.

“They want to have a right challenge, everyone does at the football club. We’ve got to make sure we keep on progressing but that would be normal for most clubs.

“We’ve just got to find the right balance to it all and hopefully that’s what we can do.

“We’ve had chats and they [the board] understand what I feel we need to improve on, in terms of areas of the team and positions.

“I know the areas that I think we feel we need to strengthen. And that will be because players have gone and also because of what I’ve seen this season.

“But, in saying that, we’ve had some real positives and improvements with this squad and I’ve been absolutely delighted with the effort and the commitment of the players. They could not have given this club any more. They’re a great bunch and I love working with them.

“But we’ve got to keep on improving if we can.

“But within the squad that will remain there is improvement as well. That’s a key point to make. It’s not just about people coming in, there’s definitely improvement in this squad.”

Rovers can can now only finish as high as 13th and as low as 16th.

“The remit was to finish about where we’re going to finish,” said Ferguson.

The Daily Mail reported this week that Rovers are “braced for approaches for Ferguson amid interest from other clubs”.