Doncaster Rovers players urged to ‘become legends’ with play-off win

Grant McCann has urged his players to make themselves Doncaster Rovers legends by keeping their promotion dreams alive.
Matty Blair heads home against CharltonMatty Blair heads home against Charlton
Matty Blair heads home against Charlton

Rovers trail Charlton Athletic 2-1 heading into the second leg of their semi-final clash at The Valley on Friday night.

McCann says he has heard plenty of talk that his side have 'done well' to simply have finished in League One's top six.

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But he insists there is a determination throughout the club to make sure that is not the peak of their achievements this season.

"I've heard a lot of talk that Doncaster have done well to get to this point," he told the Free Press.

"We have - but when you get to this point you want to go that extra yard.

"I emphasised that to the group all week and I emphasised it to them again after the game on Sunday.

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"It's not about getting to this point and getting the plaudits.

"Can you go and make yourself a hero?

"Can you go and make yourself the team that got promoted from the play-offs. “I think the last time this club did that was 11 years ago.

"It's a real opportunity for this team to make themselves legends at this football club."

In regards to Rovers' final positioning in sixth, McCann says that was the minimum expected by the squad throughout the campaign.

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While he admits overturning the first leg deficit will be difficult, McCann believes his side laid the groundwork for such heroics in the second half on Sunday.

"We expected to be here," he said. "Within this group we expected to be in the top six.

"Now we've got to this stage we want to go one further.

“I’m not interested in people saying ‘whatever happens, you’ve had a good season.’

“I set the players targets at the start of the season – not because I wanted to get them on my side. I spoke to the board last summer and told them I could get this group into the top six, that we could go for promotion.

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”I didn’t say it because I didn’t believe it. I firmly believe in this group.

“The message isn’t ‘well done Doncaster, you were the smallest team in the top six.’ I’m not interested in that.

“I want to make sure the players know they deserve to be here and we want to go all the way.

“That is the attitude and mentality that I’ve got and the players have got to have for Friday night.

"It's going to be difficult down there. It's not as easy or black and white.

"If we're going to do it we have to be as professional in our performance as we showed in the second half."

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