Grant McCann wary of Doncaster Rovers' painful Crewe memories as he plays down Bradford City emotions
Fair play to Grant McCann, he didn't let his guard down.
The Doncaster Rovers manager was continually quizzed by the local media on the eve of the crunch clash with Bradford City this weekend.
During a 20-minute virtual press conference, all were trying to get that elusive soundbite or killer line. But the Northern Irishman was nothing if not reliable with his responses. Platitudes were offered towards his opposite number Graham Alexander as well as his Bantams' team, but the overriding takeaway from McCann was that he wasn't attempting to big this game up - despite the growing outside noise.
In fact, the most interesting line was when the topic switched to the fateful semi-final play-off defeat to Crewe last season.
As if anyone of a Rovers persuasion needed reminding, McCann's men were 2-0 up from the first leg only to pass up the chance of a Wembley final after suffering penalty shoot-out heartache.
That sobering setback last May clearly scarred McCann. In the moments after the game he admitted: "The way I am as a person, I'll never get over it."
That may well be the case, but the Northern Irishman now has an ideal chance to replace those memories with positive ones this weekend.
Perhaps part of the reason for his straight-bat approach in this media call was how things unfolded at the end of last season.
"You hopefully learn from experiences," McCann told the Free Press. "If I think back to that game, was any of the staff or players thinking about Wembley? I don't think so.
"But when you start getting your emotions dragged everywhere, then football has a funny way of biting you on the backside. So for me it's making sure everyone is grounded."
He added: "I'm sure the game will be drummed up in the media and the press but my job is to keep everyone focused and calm and in control. Because if we start letting our emotions go wild with us then it can get on top of you. We've been in this position before against Crewe last season. We know how it can feel when you're in a good place but then you can get knocked back down again.
"So we've got to make sure we stay nice and grounded, understand what we need to do and nail the game-plan.
"Bradford a good team who are well-coached and well-drilled with good players through their team. We've not gone above and beyond because of the stakes of the game, it's just about understanding what we need to do.
"We know they're strong but we feel there's areas where we can hurt them."