Doncaster Rovers talking points: Psychological ploys, Charlie Crew and a different way to win

A different way to win

Make no mistake, this was probably as hard-fought a win as Rovers have achieved all season. They had to soak up plenty of pressure and were made to work plenty for a welcome away win. Of course, it always helps when you have someone in your team capable of sprinkling stardust on a contest, as happened with Luke Molyneux's terrific strike. Grant McCann concluded: "We've definitely played way better than that and lost this season. We didn't see a lot of our flair players - Charlie Crew, Joe Sbarra, Luke Molyneux (apart from his goal) - today. It was a just a game where we needed to dig in and we did that."

A first clean sheet since November 23 was also just reward for a terrific, gritty defensive display.

Psychological ploys

McCann always knew there would be an element of the unknown about this game. Gillingham were playing their first game under new boss John Coleman and with revamped tactics and personnel expected, it meant much of the planning actually took place once the teamsheets were handed in just before 11.30am in Kent.

There was also an important bit of kidology employed by McCann to try and tilt the contest in Rovers' favour.

He said: "I asked Owen Bailey to change ends at the start and make them go towards their home fans first half rather than second because I've been here over the years and if the game is 0-0 they're strong going towards that end. I felt it we got to half-time either winning or at 0-0 we'd win the game, and that was the case."

Charlie Crew's debut

This match saw Charlie Crew make a quick-fire Rovers debut, just days after arriving on loan from Leeds United.

Not everything the 18-year-old did went to plan and there was the odd moment, fully understandable, when he lost his man or didn't pick the correct pass. But on the whole it was a steady introduction and some nice moments in what was only the third senior appearance of his career.

"The three days that he's trained, he's impressed everybody," McCann said post-match. "You saw glimpses of him today where he's calm and controlled. I'm pleased he started that game today, a bit of a scrap, rather than a footballing game but he's seen what League Two is all about today and all the bits and pieces you don't get in under-21s football. He'll just get better and better."

Sharp's miss

Billy Sharp only registered 14 touches during his 74 minutes on the pitch. It wasn't a game that he'll look back too fondly on, with his involvement at a minimum. But there was one flashpoint that he'll not be in a rush to watch back.

The veteran, who this week re-iterated his desire to carry on playing until he's in his 40s, spurned a glorious chance just before half-time when he leathered the ball over the bar with only two defenders on the line to beat. He'd done the hard part by lobbing it over goalkeeper Glenn Morris but then inexplicably shanked it high and wide.

"Billy will be gutted he's missed that," McCann said. "Once he watches it back he'll realise how much time he did have, and obviously a couple of defenders went on to the goalline. It is what it is. I think that would have probably killed the game really but it's about the fact he got in there. I'm always speaking about the forward players getting into positions, so there's no qualms from me."