Darren Moore’s delight with Doncaster Rovers’ grip on their win at Burton Albion

Fejiri Okenabirhie put Rovers ahead after nine minutes before Lucas Akins equalised from the spot for Burton just before the break following a foul from Taylor Richards.

But Ben Whiteman slammed in a penalty of his own in first half stoppage time to ensure Rovers had the edge before the break, with Richards atoning for his earlier error by curling in a superb effort just before the hour mark to extend the advantage.

From there, Rovers never lost their grip on the game, which was one of the most pleasing aspects of the performance according to the manager.

“Everybody raised their focus levels and maintained it,” Moore said.

“I think we were more solid and assured in our performance in the second half.

“Burton were always there but we got block tackles in, headers, right place, right time to ensure we stayed ahead in the game.

“We knew they would come out more in the second half, which they did.

“And after the third goal everyone maintained their focus and our shape and work off the ball.

“I felt we’d got enough goalscoring quality on the pitch and we created the chances perhaps to go on and get at least another goal but it wasn’t to be.”

Moore was happy with the strong start from his side, with Okenabirhie’s effort their first goal inside the opening 15 minutes this season.

“You always want to score first and we did that, and relatively quickly,” he said.

“It set the tone for the game for us in terms of the performance.

“The response after the penalty was really good to make sure we went in with our noses in front.

“We wanted to come here and just continue the recent form we’ve been showing and I thought the players displayed that.

“I thought when we went 1-0 up and then it went to 1-1, we responded well and got the crucial penalty just before half time.

“We knew in the second half would present itself as a more open game and it proved so. I’m pleased we got the third goal.

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