Kyle Hurst on patience and number-crunching as he eyes up Doncaster Rovers starting role

There's a couple of examples that spring to mind for Doncaster Rovers. Arguably the biggest is the fact that they're sitting second, just a point off the top, with roughly a quarter of the season elapsed, despite an almost universal agreement that they've yet to hit top gear.

Another strange anomaly is highlighted by the fact that Ben Close, who only recently returned from an eight-month lay-off, has more minutes in the league so far than Kyle Hurst - Close's 222 minutes compared to Hurst's 183.

Indeed, Hurst has started just once across the 11 league games so far - another eye-raiser - and even that was way back on the opening day against Accrington. A minor niggle sustained in August saw him dip out of the squad and since then he's been restricted to dribs and drabs.

Hurst knows that hard work and tangible returns will go some way to changing that statistic. The former Birmingham City player put in a super-sub cameo that helped earn a point against Crewe last weekend, with his fine strike finishing off a sweeping counter-attack move just minutes after he was introduced to the action.

"Every game, I try and effect things somehow, even if I don’t score - by creating a goal or whatever. Every time I come on, I tell myself that I am going to effect this game," Hurst said, speaking to the media post-match on Saturday.

To find himself in the position he's now in - having to break into the team and (for the time being at least) make do with late shifts off the bench - isn't ideal given how he came roaring back in pre-season.

Manager Grant McCann and numerous coaching staff name-checked the winger as the one player who had come back in superb physical shape, and he only enhanced his credentials with a glut of goals in the summer friendlies. When asked by the Free Press about the improvement in his condition upon returning to Cantley Park in the summer, he credits head of medical Dave Rennie for devising bespoke plans for each member of the playing squad.

"The off-season programme helped me a lot," says the 24-year-old. "I feel like I came back in and I was quicker, a lot stronger. I'm continuing to do that with the tests that we do regularly throughout the week, just trying to get more powerful. I came back fit, sharp, strong and obviously then had a good pre-season. But football always changes and it's about taking the chances whenever they come."

Delving a little deeper into the subject, Hurst reveals that he is a stickler for checking his output and that he constantly looks for numeric proof of improvement.

He added: "Nutrition is a massive part of our individual plans. But it's also about the gym and knowing your specific needs and what areas you need to hit. Obviously Dave gives us that plan and then throughout the week there's testing to look at how you're doing through the campaign and analysing it. We're always doing that, which is just making us better as players.

"It's rewarding when you look at the numbers. For example, say your score was a certain number and now it's gone up by three or whatever it is - it's that feeling that you're doing something right here. And it's about just keeping on doing those good things."

With such a mindset and an approach to personal improvement, it's no surprise to see Hurst's numbers going in the right direction.