'It's time, let's go' - Darren Moore on his decision to hand AJ Greaves his full league debut for Doncaster Rovers

But boss Darren Moore insists the 20-year-old had earned his chance to claim his full league debut in Tuesday night's win over Rochdale.

The Sheffield-born midfielder played the full 90 minutes of the victory, just four days after coming off the bench for his first league appearance.

Moore was full of praise for the youngster's improvement over the last few months, since he returned from a loan spell with Gainsborough Trinity which was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

And he said he had no hesitancy in throwing Greaves into action after finding his midfield options depleted by injury, suspension and the departure of Ben Whiteman.

"Since he's come back and he's been in training with us there's been things that we've been trying to coach him through," Moore said.

"But also at the same time, when you get the injuries that we've had you think 'well, come on then, it's time, let's go.'

"The younger ones here they get the opportunity to play. But at the same time, they get the opportunity when we feel it's right to give the opportunity.

"Certainly AJ now is a finer, more refined AJ than he was two or three months ago.

"It's not rocket science, it's just work on the training ground.

"I'm pleased for him because he clearly understands what is expected for him."

Moore expects Greaves to have taken a big boost to his confidence following his performance against Rochdale, particularly with the validation that he is capable of performing in the sitting midfield role that is so important to how Rovers play.

"He's had a taste of it and he will have gone home, gone to bed and woke up the next morning and see he's contributed to three valuable points," he said.

"The big thing for him is that he will see he can play in there, he can do it, he can do both sides of the game.

"He never stopped looking for the ball. He was always offering us an option for us to get on it.

"It's one for him to look at. We'll bring him in individually and look at it, we'll analyse parts of his game and show him where he was really good and effective and parts where he could have done better.

"You can understand his appetite and endeavour and we're all really pleased for him."

With the absence of a U23s group at Rovers this season, and due to his loan being cut short with the halting of the Northern Premier League, it had been some time prior to the weekend when Greaves had last earned match minutes.

But he did not appear to be lacking in match fitness in either of his two recent appearances - even if Moore was considering replacing him in the second half on Tuesday.

"I was thinking about taking him off," he said. "You'd got two players in that midfield with Matt Smith who hasn't played a lot of games over the last few weeks.

"I got to the 60 minute mark with him and thought goodness me.

"I kept getting messages on to ask him if he was okay and it was the same with AJ.”

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