Doncaster Rovers talking points: Set-piece improvements, the F word + a 13-month wait ends

The F word

There was one adjective in particular that Grant McCann uttered aplenty in his post-match press conference: frustrating.

It perfectly sums up the feeling after this odd encounter where Rovers bossed the first 45 minutes before barely laying a glove on Burton after the break.

"It was a good opportunity for us today to bounce back with a win and what I was watching first half I was really confident that would happen," McCann told the Free Press.

"But for whatever reason, the Jekyll and Hyde sort of performances that we've already seen this season came into play. And you can get away with that in League Two. You can be poor for 15, 30 minutes - I think - at League Two and still win the game. Not at this level you can't. We weren't brave enough on the ball. Today's second half felt like the first half at Luton; we went safe. That second half was just a frustrating 45, 50 minutes for everybody. We just have to keep searching for consistency on the training ground."

The turning point

Undoubtedly the sliding doors moment of this game came when Billy Sharp inexplicably put wide a chance from just a few yards out. Everyone in the ground expected the net to bulge given this was the sort of chance Sharp has built a career off.

At the time Rovers were 1-0 up but Burton had shown their threats. Had this chance been put away then it's highly likely that Rovers would have come out on top with Burton unlikely to come back from a two-goal deficit with just 20 minutes to play.

But the veteran failed to hit the target and less than two minutes later Burton capitalised and restored parity through Tyrese Shade's smart finish. Whilst he might not have admitted it in his post-match briefing, McCann will surely concur that the Sharp miss was the turning point.

"It falls to the person you'd want it to fall to, doesn't it?" McCann said. "Billy is disappointed that he didn't score but that's not the reason we drew the game today."

Set-piece improvements

After plenty of set-piece failings in recent weeks, Rovers took the lead here after recycling a corner. Matty Pearson got his head on Jordan Gibson's clipped ball back into the area for his first goal in Rovers colours.

McCann is happy that other players are now starting to chip in with goals and that the players have started to wise up both defensively and offensively from set-pieces.

He said: "We actually should have scored from the first one just before because it was the same sort of work. Sean Grehan is ready to head it in and for whatever reason there's no communication and Owen (Bailey) puts it over the crossbar. But to score just after through Matty was great. And that's a real credit to the players because they've taken more responsibility in terms of set-ups and what they wanted to do."

Close ends long wait

This game saw Ben Close end a long wait, as he earned a first league start for 13 months. The midfielder has gone through plenty in the last couple of years, suffering a long-term injury, going out on loan to Eastleigh in the second half of last season and then having to watch the title triumph from afar.

But he's right back in the plans of McCann now thanks to some stellar showings as a starter in the EFL Cup and off the bench in the league. Whilst he is delighted to be back fully in the first team picture, that was tempered slightly by the way this game ended.

"The overwhelming feeling today is disappointment that we've not won the game," he said post-match. "To take the lead and play like we did first half but then not take all three points, it's really disappointing."