Doncaster Rovers: Grant McCann hails '˜outstanding' side in Rochdale victory

Grant McCann praised the workrate of his Doncaster Rovers side as they battled to a 3-2 win at Rochdale.
Grant McCannGrant McCann
Grant McCann

Goals from Ali Crawford, Andy Butler and Jermaine Anderson earned Rovers three points in an all action contest from which Rochdale will have been disappointed not to take anything.

McCann was pleased with the effort of his side, who again showed their ability to fight for the win as much as their strong attacking play.

Grant McCannGrant McCann
Grant McCann

'They were outstanding,' he said.

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'It's not as plain and simple as you think, that you're going to outpass teams every week. We have to dig in.

'Rochdale is a really tough place to come, one of the toughest in the league.

'They play outstanding at home, which is a credit to them and their manager.

'We knew exactly what we were coming into.

'We dealt with the elements. I felt we had to deal with them, especially in the second half when the wind was swirling.

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'It wasn't maybe a day to play our fluent best but I thought we were excellent.

'Paul Gerrard said something in the changing room afterwards. He's been here five years and he's seen Doncaster teams come here and concede and concede again until we either draw or lose the game.

'That shows the real character of our side.'

The victory saw Rovers bounce back from consecutive league defeats and McCann felt a ruthlessness in front of goal was key.

Rovers had only seven shots in the game but put six on target in contrast to Rochdale's seven from 22 efforts.

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'We scored three, they scored two '“ it's as simple as that,' McCann said.

'They had shots and Marko made some saves but in terms of shots on target we were ruthless.

'We weren't last week and we showed a real ruthless streak here.'

McCann was less than complimentary about referee Scott Oldham, who failed to give a late penalty for a foul on Mallik Wilks.

'I thought the referee was outstanding,' he said. 'It was a really good performance from him.

'He gave Rochdale everything, which was good.

'It's always hard when you're playing against that.'