Danny Schofield assesses his time in charge of Doncaster Rovers to date

Schofield’s first game as head coach came two days after his appointment in October against this weekend’s opponents, Crewe Alexandra, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

He has so far overseen 25 matches, with nine wins, three draws and 13 defeats.

Asked to assess his time in charge, Schofield told The Free Press: “Probably like being on a rollercoaster – plenty of ups, certainly plenty of downs.

"Lots of emotion, lots of learning about myself, other players and the football club. But I also have a burning desire and ambition to want to succeed and help this football club grow.”

Schofield rejected an offer to manage in Belgium’s top flight last summer before being handed the reins at Huddersfield Town, who had just missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the play-offs.

But his spell there lasted just 69 days and he was dismissed after nine matches in charge, seven of them losses.

Schofield, a Terriers legend in his playing days, now finds himself working to bring success back to his hometown club.

That’s proving to be a tough ask not helped by an injury crisis which has potentially ruled 11 first-team players out of Saturday's match.

The opportunity of qualifying for the League Two play-offs appears to be over with a 10-point gap to make up in the last eight games.

There’s also an ongoing battle to win the hearts and minds of supporters with his style of play, which is yet to bear fruit on a regular basis.

Schofield, whose side has won just one of their last eight matches, said: "The consistency of performances and results haven’t been what I’ve wanted but I truly believe myself and the staff are the people to take this club forward.

“Do we need to be better? Yes. We can all be better every single day. Do the players need to be better? Absolutely. We keep pushing them and looking at areas we can improve with recruitment.

“I genuinely feel with the processes in place that we can go somewhere with this football club.

"It’s been five, nearly six months in this role and I can only see it growing and progressing from here.”