Doncaster Rovers: AFC Wimbledon clash labelled ‘biggest game of the season’ after Harrogate Town defeat

Doncaster’s play-off hopes are hanging by a thread after their third defeat in four matches, which left them nine points off League Two’s top seven with 12 games to go.

They failed to inspire confidence in a late surge up the table as they were comfortably beaten 2-0 at home to Harrogate Town on Tuesday.

Looking ahead to another home fixture this weekend, Rowe said: “It’s the biggest game of our season, how we react will tell us a lot about our character.

"We are a young side in terms of games played and people coming into the squad who have not played a lot of football. It’s not an excuse, it means the lads who are experienced need to make some corrections.

"We need to make sure we get the lads ready and just get back to the basics, but perform to our absolute highest. It has to be a time for us to reset, then we can go again.”

Harrogate had not won for seven matches prior to their meeting with Doncaster but picked up a deserved three points thanks to second-half goals from Luke Armstrong and Alex Pattison.

Rovers again created few chances and were wasteful in possession throughout as they gave the ball away on numerous occasions in both halves.

Rowe said: “We let the manager down, we let the staff down, most importantly we let the fans down.

"The players need to take accountability for this one.

"We caused our own problems. In the end it took the game away from us.”

Doncaster’s 15th loss of the campaign has left them in the bottom half of the table and further from the play-off places than they have been all season.

But Rowe insisted play-off talk was not ‘daft’.

He said: “You are daft if you give yourself no hope in life.

"You have seen stranger things happen. You are talking about trying to give yourself positive momentum to win the next game.

"So if there’s any small chance, that’s the case for a footballer. I have to keep believing and I will do, because it’s important for the next game.”

Wimbledon are also without a win in their last seven matches.