Doncaster Rovers deserved something from Hartlepool United trip says Gary McSheffrey

Rovers got a taste of their own medicine when the Pools stole all three points with just four minutes left on the clock after substitute Wes McDonald fired home the winner from close range.

McSheffrey’s men weren’t at their best but levelled the scores thanks to 18-year-old Bobby Faulkner’s first goal in professional football midway through the second half.

Pools striker Josh Umerah had given them the lead on 38 minutes.

McSheffrey said: “We were the better team in the second half. I thought we deserved something.

"But, what I did say to the lads, is that you can’t expect to get anything out of the game when you perform how you did in the first half.

"They got themselves back in it but they gave themselves a mountain to climb.”

McSheffrey admitted he would have been happy to go into the interval with the scores level at 0-0 after his side were second best in the first period.

He added: “You need to know where you are coming – welcome to Hartlepool, you are in for a scrap.

"It was the same message as Saturday (against Rochdale), you have to win the battle first.

"You have to work harder than them. If you work harder than these teams, your quality will come through in the end.”

The gaffer questioned his players’ mentality following a below-par first-half display, which subsequently saw James Maxwell and Charlie Seaman hooked at the break.

He said: “Is it a mindset thing where they are feeling good and they feel they are a better team?

"We got physically outdone in the first half.”

The boss reserved praise for the performance of Faulkner, however, who made several last-ditch interceptions to keep Hartlepool’s strikers at bay.

He said: “Bobby is really keen to try and win everything and we love that about him.

"In the second half he was really good. In the first half, some of his blocks were tremendous.

"Bobby was blocking all sorts and stopping crosses. I’m delighted he got his first goal, it was a great finish.”

Rovers are back in action on Saturday when they welcome Richie Wellens’s table-topping Leyton Orient to the Eco-Power Stadium.