Doncaster Rovers boss gives 'better than expected' verdict on Rossington Main friendly

Rovers triumphed 4-0 against the Northern Counties East League side with a hat trick from trialist Aidan Barlow and a penalty from another contract hopeful Aramide Oteh.

Using 23 players on the day, Wellens was pleased with the performance overall as he saw evidence of some of the things he had been working on in training with the squad.

“It was really professional and in terms of where we’re at it was better than what I expected,” he said.

“The lads have worked hard and obviously we’re trying to get a load of ideas across to them in the coming weeks.

“We’ve only drip-fed little bits and they’ve taken it all on board.

“The first half team looked really strong, really good and some of our passing and movement was very good. We just lacked that last bit in the box.

“The second half team came on and continued that. It’s always difficult when you get these games and change the whole XI at half time but I think everybody has come out of it with credit.”

Wellens said he hoped his side would lay down a marker from which to build from as they continue their preparations for the new campaign.

“Apart from the first 15 minutes when we played in front of them a bit too much, we then started to get the runners and the distances between their midfield and back line started to appear and we exploited that,” he said.

“We got two goals from that and then a third just before half time.

“We were hoping it’d rain because the grass is a bit long. It’s a really nice surface but if it rains you get that zippiness and you can play at a quicker tempo.

“It’s a real good start for us. We know it’s a pre-season game and the first one but we wanted to make a real statement in terms of where we start and I thought we did that.”

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