'Surprised he stayed on': What Grant McCann had to say about Doncaster Rovers' loss to Leicester City

Doncaster Rovers were beaten 2-1 by promotion hopefuls Leicester City in a tightly-fought contest at the King Power Stadium.

Goals from midfielders John Lundstram and Kamari Doyle eased some of the pressure surrounding Russell Martin’s future with the Foxes and gave Grant McCann’s side a welcome reminder that there’s still work to be done if the team are to be competing for a top six finish come the end of the campaign.

However, Rovers did atleast show signs of fight towards the end of the game - scoring a consolation through Alfie May while also threatening to equalise towards the end of the contest in the East Midlands.

The result leaves Doncaster Rovers in 17th position ahead of a challenging run of fixtures which sees the team take on Stockport County, Sheffield Wednesday and Luton Town later this month. Here was Grant McCann’s assessment of the game and what he feels the team need to work on.

What Grant McCann said about Doncaster Rovers’ performance against Leicester City

“I thought for 30 minutes we were in control of the game, but we didn't do a good enough job with some of the chances,” McCann said.

“We needed to score in that spell. I felt the last ten minutes of the first-half, we went sloppy. We kept giving the ball away.”

Discussing John Lundstram’s opener which came on the stroke of half-time, McCann added: “We have to stay switched on. It was a poor goal for us to concede, but we rallied. The subs came on and made a difference. Alfie got a good goal.

“Looking back at it. I just think we we’re good for 30 minutes (at the start of the game) . Leon Ayinde was causing Luke Thomas all kinds of problems. I’m surprised Thomas stayed on the pitch, he must have fouled him three or four times in that first half.

“I thought the performance in the first half was being positive and then the final ten minutes of the half, just a little bit safe. And a poor goal to concede . I'm just disappointed. I feel like that goal, just before the start of half-time swung the momentum in their favour and it was all a little bit scrappy in the second half.”

McCann went on to praise Doncaster Rovers’ incredible travelling support, with more than 2,000 supporters making the trip to the East Midlands to cheer on their side. He added: “I'd have loved to win the game for them. I felt like we had a really good chance if we didn’t conceded that goal on the stroke at half-time.

“No disrespect to the Harrogates and Newports and Morecambe and teams like that, that we’ve travelled to over the years, because they're really good football clubs. But this is top quality, big budget, one of the best stadiums. This is a reward for them.”