It's been a difficult time of late for Doncaster Rovers winger Luke Molyneux.

After struggling for form in the opening months of the season, the 27-year-old recently had a hard time of it off-the-field following the passing of his grandfather who he was mightily close to.

Molyneux revealed the news earlier this month, via his social media account. That led to an outpouring of praise from colleagues and supporters alike. Manager Grant McCann has always backed Molyneux to come good and that's certainly been the case in recent weeks, after a superb assist in the FA Cup victory at Crewe and then a first goal in more than two months in the derby loss to Barnsley last Saturday (Molyneux's poignant celebration with his grandfather in mind was captured brilliantly by our photographer Howard Roe, see picture).

Despite Rovers losing that fiery contest 2-1, the wide man was the star player for the hosts as he looks to get back to the levels of 2024-25 when he swept the board at the club's season awards.

Luke Molyneux was on the scoresheet for Rovers against Barnsley last weekend, with his celebration a poignant one following the recent passing of his grandfather.

placeholder image — Luke Molyneux was on the scoresheet for Rovers against Barnsley last weekend, with his celebration a poignant one following the recent passing of his grandfather.

"Mols has been really good for three games now. It was a really strong performance again from him with good dribbling," McCann said post-match.

"I'm pleased for him to be back to where he is, because when he plays like that he's certainly one of the best in the division.

"He was outstanding. When he plays like that, and people may think I'm talking rubbish, but he's so hard to stop. He's good at one-v-ones, he's aggressive, he runs in behind, he scored a good goal. He set numerous opportunities up and Barnsley didn't know whether to keep him inside or outside."

Midfielder George Broadbent concurred with his manager.

"You saw in the first half what he did to the Barnsley full-back and he got brought off," he said. "And then in the second half he did the same again. He put alot of deliveries inoti the box and he's playing really well for us.

"I think the more that we can get the ball to him, the more we'll stand a chance of winning games."

Rovers host Bradford on Tuesday in the EFL Trophy before resuming League One duties with a short trip to Lincoln at the weekend.