Doncaster Rovers 'won't just settle for positive signs' says Tommy Rowe

Rovers have lost their opening three league matches with a lack of attacking threat costing them dearly after decent spells of possession football.

Rowe has emphasised the need for patience as Rovers - who host Portsmouth on Saturday - continue to develop under new manager Richie Wellens.

But he also stressed that ultimately the most important thing is results, and insists there will be no satisfaction taken from any game if it does not produce points.

“I’ve seen the signs and hopefully everyone has in the games so far,” Rowe told the Free Press.

“But we’re not settling for signs of being a good team. We want to be a winning team.

“It doesn’t mean anything to play nice football if it’s not worth anything.

“We have got to keep working at it and demanding more from each other individually.

“We’re a new team, a young team but there are plenty of players who have played a lot of minutes in there.

“We share the leadership and hopefully we can push on over the next few games.”

As one of few veterans in the Rovers squad, Rowe is looking to provide guidance to the young crop and help maintain their confidence through the tricky period of results.

And he says experience told him that things were not simply going to fall into place for the side from the start.

“It’s the hardest thing in football - staying level headed,” he said.

“When I first signed I wanted to sing at the top of my voice about how good it’s going to be.

“But, being experienced in the game, I know it’s not going to be easy and it’s not going to go all our way.

“Looking back at my first spell here, we thought it was going to be fantastic straight away but were struggling at the beginning in terms of camaraderie and gelling as a squad because there were a lot of new players.

“But when we clicked it was a well-oiled machine that just kept going and kept going.

“I suppose you can call it momentum. And you can have winning momentum and losing momentum.

“But I just think that the things we’re doing on the training ground will come off because there are lads that are listening and engaging.”

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