Returning Doncaster Rovers star admits he tried to play through pain barrier

Defender Senior quickly established himself as an important back of Doncaster’s back line following his summer move from Halifax, featuring in all seven of their first league games.

But a medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury sustained after a second-half challenge at Wrexham kept him out of their next seven league matches.

Senior returned to action from the bench against Salford last Tuesday before making his full return in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Grimsby, helping Rovers to their fourth clean sheet of the season.

The 26-year-old couldn't hide his delight after securing his first win as a Doncaster player in ten attempts.

He told The Free Press: “It’s very good to be back.

"It was a tough six or seven weeks, there were ups and downs and times I was trying to get back on the grass and wasn’t ready.

"As the weeks started going on and on it was frustrating."

Senior revealed luck had been on his side with injuries in recent years.

But the former Huddersfield and Luton Town youngster knew something was up straight away at the StoK Racecourse.

He said: “I was like ‘I’m not coming off’, we were in the ascendancy to nick it.

"The next day I woke up and was like ‘something isn’t right’.

"I tried to carry on the following week, with hindsight it wasn’t the right thing to do but I didn’t want to stop playing.”

Rovers weren’t at their free-flowing best against struggling Grimsby on Saturday but Senior and his teammates did restrict their opponents to just one effort on target.

He said: "The feelings I have right now are very good, I’m so happy we have got the first win with a clean sheet and battling performance to go with it.

"It’s a great group of lads, we are all on the same page, we are all fighting for the same thing. It’s so much fun coming into work every day.”

Senior captained his previous club Halifax but is something of a Football League novice, having played the majority of his football in non-league.

He admitted he was still finding his feet despite a strong start to his Doncaster career.

Senior said: “There’s a lot of leaders in the team. Even with being a captain previously there’s people I take little bits off and learn from, like Woody (Richard Wood), Ando (Tom Anderson) and Ironside (Joe Ironside).

"You are never too old to improve.

"I’ll never stop wanting to learn, that’s all I want to do.

"The moment you think you are too good or you don’t need to learn it’s downhill from there.

"You have got to pick little bits off everyone because everyone has had different careers, different ups and downs.

"You have got to soak it up.”

Doncaster are in FA Cup action this weekend at home to Accrington Stanley.

They host Burton Albion in the EFL Trophy a week on Tuesday before taking on AFC Wimbledon when their league campaign resumes on Saturday, 11 November.