Bittersweet day as Doncaster Rovers receive bad news on injured midfielder

The 27-year-old suffered a knee injury last month in the EFL Trophy tie at Bradford City. McCann said in the build-up to today's much-needed win over Tranmere Rovers that Close was set to see a surgeon who would assess exactly what the damage is.

And the prognosis isn't good. Speaking to the media post-match at the Eco-Power Stadium, McCann said: "We've had disappointing news with Ben. We knew it could be either three or four weeks or three or four months - it's the latter unfortunately.

"We certainly won't see him again this season. We feel like we've got midfielders here that are capable. We brought Matty Craig in because we thought he's a similar type to Closey and Zain (Westbrooke) and I thought he was excellent today."

On the performance, which saw the team register only their second win of 2024 thanks to goals from Joe Ironside and Hakeeb Adelakun, McCann added: "I was pleased with the win. We've won at home and it's a good win. I was pleased with lots about the performance. We showed bravery, we got on the ball. We were patient and grew into the game.

"Tranmere are a good team and it was always going to be tough so I'm pleased to come out on top of it. I'm pleased we've given the fans three points because the last time we were here (Stockport) we weren't good. We had to have a positive frame of mind and we were."

Rovers return to action Tuesday, away at Salford City.