Grant McCann's verdict on Doncaster Rovers' pitch concerns amid 'relentless' schedule
Grant McCann is making the most of a blank midweek, before Doncaster Rovers embark on a chaotic period.
Rovers round off February by welcoming Cardiff City to the Eco-Power Stadium on Saturday. Then, a gruelling period begins with eight games in March that sees them play Saturday-Tuesday continuously, before April begins with the traditional Easter double-header. Rovers' upcoming schedule has been swelled thanks to the re-arranged home games with Luton (March 10) and Port Vale (March 24).
Regarding the meeting with the Hatters, a Rovers statement said that "the decision over the date of the game was enforced by the EFL despite the club putting forward a strong case for a rescheduling more favourable to the team and club."
They also cited the heavy use of the stadium pitch - already showing signs of cutting up amid a stacked fixture list for both Rovers and the Doncaster RLFC team who also play there.
"It's going to be relentless," McCann told the Free Press. "I think we've got ten games on our pitch from the Cardiff match until early April, including the rugby games.
"It's constant games now, right the way through. It's a difficult one because I'm not a groundsman and I don't know too much about it all. But we've got four groundsmen here who all work really hard between the training ground and the stadium to try and make the pitches the best they can be.
"And also, the club have been brilliant in giving them the tools to work. For example the club has bought a new machine to help drain the training pitches. And it's not cheap. Unfortunately the weather is what it is and some pitches are really poor and unplayable at the minute."
Meanwhile, McCann hopes Rovers fans turn up in their numbers this weekend after the club dropped matchday prices to £12 - reciprocating what Cardiff did in the reverse fixture last December.
"I hope the fans can get behind us and support us," he added. "I think this club has always been good at stuff like that, whether it be incentives or doing work in and around the community. So to do that for our fans and Cardiff fans that are travelling a long way, it's really good.
"Obviously they did it for us so I think it was only fair that we did it for them."