‘Go as far as we can - Cliff Byrne looks ahead to Doncaster Rovers’ EFL Trophy clash with Rochdale

Doncaster Rovers assistant coach Cliff Byrne believes Tuesday night’s EFL Trophy clash with Rochdale gives the players the perfect chance to try and rectify some of the problems that were apparent during last Saturday’s 6-1 defeat to MK Dons.

Rovers go into their final group stage game in second position with a record of three points from their opening two matches. Grant McCann’s men were beaten 3-1 by Huddersfield Town in the first game before more recently recording a 1-0 win over Liverpool Under-21s.

It means they are firmly on course to reach the knockout stages of the competition provided they can pick up all three points or either equal or better Liverpool Under-21’s result against Huddersfield.

Rochdale are currently on one point. They drew 3-3 with Liverpool Under-21s before losing on penalties in the first match before falling to a disappointing 5-0 defeat against Huddersfield.

Reflecting on the weekend, Byrne told club media: “It was a game that was important that we looked back over and looked through and it's a game we have to quickly learn from.

“So our benefit now is we’ve got a game coming quickly, so we’re looking forward to that and to be able to go and put a performance on, it’s a game we need to win, it’s a cup competition and we want to progress to the next round, so that’s where the focus is.”

Byrne continued: “I think when you come off a poor defeat and a poor performance couple with it, you definitely want an opportunity to go and rectify it and put it right, so when you have a game within a couple of days, that gives you the opportunity to go and do that and that’s exactly what we’ll be aiming to do.”

Rovers reached the semi-final of this competition and only narrowly missed out on a first visit to Wembley since 2008 after losing to Stockport County in the semi-final.

The South Yorkshire side have only ever won this competition once. That came in 2007 when Sean O’Driscoll’s men were triumphant over Bristol Rovers at the Millenium Stadium.

“We want to go as far as we can,” said Byrne.

“We made no bones about it last season and this season we have had some really good teams in our group, we’re down to the last game and it’s in our hands to progress to the next round.”

The EFL Trophy is often seen as a competition for youngsters and squad players to get an opportunity. Byrne hinted that they’ll be some changes but also emphasized the importance of picking up a good result.

He said: “It’s a game we want to win and the selection we have in mind is for that, to win the game and progress.

“But there may be an opportunity for some players to get more minutes than they have in recent weeks but I think that's the nature of how the schedule is. It’s very hard to ask the same 11 to go time and time again. They’ll be opportunities in some areas but in others there won’t be.”