Doncaster Rovers talking points: Pitch concerns, Adelakun's landmark + green shirt thumbs-up

Pitch concerns

The obvious starting point is the state of the Eco-Power Stadium pitch right now. It's certainly seen better days and amid a glut of both football and rugby league games it doesn't look as though it is going to get much better any time soon.

Grant McCann acknowledged post-match that his side wanted "make it scrappy and ugly" against a Blackpool team fighting for their lives near the bottom of the table. A pragmatic approach was therefore required and it's safe to say they took to the task well, with passing out from the back firmly off the menu.

"I can't tell you how hard it is to pass the ball on that pitch," McCann said. "Until you go on there and pass the ball to each other, you probably wouldn't understand what I mean. It's difficult. It's kicking up. It's slow, bobbly. They're used to playing on good pitches, the boys, and when it's like that, it's tough."

Explaining how the surface was not conducive to playing passing football, he's hopeful that the short break between fixtures - the next match scheduled is Doncaster RLFC's home game on Sunday, March 22 - will give the pitch a bit of brief respite. "Hopefully now the weather's picked up and the sun's coming out, it'll look a little bit better but it's only ten days before we're back here," he added. "So it doesn't give it a lot of time."

Adelakun's landmark

Hakeeb Adelakun hadn't featured in a league game for three weeks. That last outing was at Rotherham, with Adelakun one of three players hooked at the interval. But he returned with a bang here, climbing off the bench and finding the net within just four minutes. He finished in style, too, with a precise goal from the left-hand side of the penalty area after a good run. That was the 50th league goal of his career.

"I had a feeling Haks would score today, or that he'd contribute massively," McCann said. "He's been excellent the last couple of days in training and he's been looking more threatening, so it was nice to see him come inside and finish that chance.

"I'm really pleased for him because he's a really good player, and it was nice to see him get the goal."

Defence tightens up - mostly

It took a wonder goal to breach Rovers' defence in midweek against Luton and against Blackpool it looked like a clean sheet was inevitable, such was the lack of guile the visitors had.

Goalkeeper Zander Clark was effectively an onlooker for three quarters of the contest. Only when sub Josh Bowler came on did Clark have to be alert. The Blackpool player saw a fierce drive come back off a post with the score at 1-0 before Rovers managed to turn the screw and make it 2-0.

But with just two minutes left the visitors gave Rovers an almighty scare when another sub, Ashley Fletcher, fired home from close range after Rovers failed to clear their lines on multiple occasions. Thankfully, it didn't prove fatal as Rovers held out.

Clark, speaking post-match, said: "It was pretty quiet for me but when they're raining balls in to our defenders, I have to be alert and try to help them.

"As a goalkeeper you need to be switched on for the whole game. You have to be fully focused for the whole duration. It wasn't pretty on the eye but the backline were terrific. It's frustrating we conceded because I felt they (defence) deserved the clean sheet for than me so I'm gutted for them but delighted we got the win in the end."

The end in sight

Rovers now have ten games left to play and for McCann, it's all about looking up rather than down. He said: "We set a 22-game table to the players, and our challenge was to finish the highest we can on that table.

"We're two points short of two points-per-game so the form of the team has been really, really good. There's still ten games to go so there's 30 points to play for. That's the reality and all we can do is focus on the next one.

"Once that last ball's kicked on May 2 (v Peterborough) that's when we can reflect and see how we've done. But at this point, we just want to try and continue to climb."

Green shirts get the thumbs-up

This game was designated as Rovers' annual Community Day fixture with a host of initiatives laid on. A big part of the day was Rovers' players wearing the specially-designed fourth kit. The striking green shirts and white shorts combo has proved a huge hit commercially - and McCann is a fan too!

"It's nice," he told the Free Press. "It was like watching Northern Ireland out there! I said it to a few of the boys before the game that it feels good watching some of them in green and white shirts. We might try and keep them now!"