Grant McCann on Doncaster Rovers' main focus in training this week + bounce match update
Doncaster Rovers’ boss Grant McCann pulled no punches with his post-match assessment of his side’s 1-1 draw at home to Salford City.
For the second game running his team were profligate in front of goal. Against the Ammies his side registered 12 shots but the damning statistic is that just one hit the target - Billy Sharp's tap-in for the equalising goal.
Rovers are in the midst of a sparse November schedule with no midweek games at all this month. It is a far cry from December when there's six league games, an FA Cup trip to Kettering and an EFL Trophy last-32 tie to be shoehorned in.
That means more time for McCann and his coaching staff to work on tactics and finishing, with the latter a particular area of focus in the build-up to the trip to Carlisle next weekend. Rovers are sitting well-placed in third position but McCann has repeatedly stressed he wants them to be more ruthless.
"We have to continue repetition in terms of how we want to work and getting the players into those (scoring) positions," McCann said. "I speak about it all the time when we don't win and take our chances, but I'm not a rigid manager.
"I don't tell the players where to go. I like them to have freedom at the top end of the pitch. They have that, but at the minute we're just not picking the right pass, cross, shot. The decision-making is wrong. Maybe we need to sit with the boys this week and go through all the times that our shots or crosses get blocked and check in terms of where the movements or options are. These are things we're doing all the time to try and improve."
With the injury room now empty, McCann had previously hinted at another behind-closed-doors game to keep the fringe players within his squad ticking over.
A run-out against York earlier this month was a chance for those returning from injury to get some much-needed minutes and speaking to the Free Press, McCann confirms another is lined up. The Northern Irishman says Rovers are still trying to arrange an opponent and that it's provisionally due to take place in the midweek after Carlisle.
That could be the ideal opportunity for Richard Wood and Zain Westbrooke to make their playing returns after sizeable lay-offs.