Doncaster Rovers launch investigation into ongoing injury issues amid more casualties

Boss Grant McCann had eight players unavailable to him for Tuesday's 2-2 draw against Mansfield Town.

Rovers also lost Tom Anderson to injury in the first half after he collided with teammate Owen Bailey.

Injuries have plagued Doncaster in recent seasons and contributed to their relegation from League One in 2021/22.

They struck again last term and coincided with the team's slide down the table in the final part of the campaign, ultimately leading to an 18th-placed finish in League Two.

Both Caolan Lavery and Jon Taylor have suffered a recurrence of injuries that required surgery, with McCann confirming the circumstances behind those are being investigated.

He told The Free Press: "It’s something the physios and the club are looking into because we seem to have things cropping up from operations previously."

McCann made it one of his missions to build more 'robustness' in his players upon his return to the club after an injury-interrupted few seasons for several of them.

Asked whether the injury situation could be bad luck, or symptomatic of a bigger problem, McCann said: "I know the football club is doing a lot of internal investigation into that.”

With no senior options available in reserve, McCann named 16-year-old first-year scholar Sam Straughan-Brown, a central midfielder, on the bench against the Stags.

Rovers have paid the price for a hectic opening fortnight, which has seen them play four games in 11 days with a combined total of 59 minutes' worth of stoppage time due to EFL rule changes.

Tuesday's opponents Mansfield also picked up four injuries during the match.

McCann said: "I think all managers are expecting it this season with the amount of minutes and how quickly the games come, particularly in the early part of the season.

"If you win the (Carabao) Cup game, you have got one spare week next week then you are back into the Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday again.

"It was always the worry from my point of view, with the amount of games and minutes that's being played in these games, this could happen."

Doncaster's progress in the Carabao Cup means they will play at least 52 games this season.

McCann has warned the cumulative extra time totals will increase that number even further.