Grant McCann delighted with tactical tweaks that paid off in Doncaster Rovers' win at Cheltenham

Rovers eventually saw off the plucky ten-man Robins thanks to late, late goals from Jamie Sterry and Rob Street. The lunchtime victory bumped them up to 70 points, just two behind deposed leaders Walsall and three shy of Bradford and Port Vale on 73. Crucially, Rovers have a game in hand which if they win would put them level on points with the latter two.

With the margins ultra-tight, it put plenty of emphasis on this latest win. And it was achieved in part thanks to a crucial tactical tweak as the game ticked towards its latter stages.

Grant McCann opted to switch formation and move to three at the back, replacing centre-half Tom Anderson with striker Joe Ironside coming on. That saw Luke Molyneux and Jamie Sterry move to wing-back roles and they combined for the vital opener not long after.

"We made an adjustment in terms of Tom coming off and Owen Bailey going into a back three," McCann explained.

"We then pushed Jamie and Luke up further to try and get lower crosses in. It nearly happened straight away but fortunately we got the job done.

"Our first goal was great. Luke again showed people how good he is. He was really good on the right but then when he went to the left I think he showed people how quick he is as well. Their two right-backs are quick but Mols showed them a clean pair of heels a few times.

"When the (first) goal went in the whole bench jumped up. It's always really tough here. I remember coming here with Peterborough a few years ago and we were 2-0 down at half-time and ended up winning 3-2, but I know it's hard to win here."

McCann was speaking before the 3pm games, which saw Bradford and Wimbledon both win but Notts County lose.

He added: "All we can do is our job and that's try and win as many games as we can to get us to where we want to be."

Rovers host Wimbledon next Saturday in another 12.30pm kick-off.