Doncaster Rovers ace says perception of season so far ‘has got a little lost’

Rovers were booed off following Saturday’s 3-0 defeat away to Carlisle United – their sixth defeat in ten matches – but remain within three points of the League Two play-off places.

Still, the number of fans calling for boss Gary McSheffrey to go amid inconsistent performances and results continues to increase.

“For anyone who watched the game it wasn’t a 3-0 game,” Clayton said of Doncaster’s latest loss, which could have been worse but for Jonathan Mitchell’s penalty save in injury time.

"The perception of our start to the season has got a little lost.

"When you come here today they (Carlisle) are talking about how good their start has been and they can’t get carried away. We were level on points.

"The perception of our start is a little bit different.”

Asked, therefore, if the expectations on Doncaster this season are fair, Clayton replied: “Yeah course. The expectation from within is to get promoted.

"Are you going to be top of the league and win every game? No. We are a new team, we know we have got top players in this division, but things that are worth doing aren’t easy.

"The standard of League Two has really surprised, it’s really good football.”

McSheffrey took a share of the responsibility for Rovers’ poor run of form but said his players need to ‘buck up their ideas’ after they managed just one effort on target against Carlisle.

Clayton said: "I would love to have a player or players that I could go and say ‘you weren’t at it’ or ‘you’re not trying’ and have a go and raise my voice and let some anger out.

"But the lads give everything every day.

"It’s individual errors that are costing us at the moment, me included. We have to stick together.”

With 32 games to go and 96 points still to play for, Clayton added: "It’s not the end of the world, we are twelfth. We can’t be more than six points off the play-offs, so we keep going.

"Teams have come from further behind than this to get promoted in this league. We will get all our players back fit and we will keep moving.”