Richie Wellens' disappointment as Doncaster Rovers' opening day defeat sends returning fans home unhappy

Rovers played their first competitive home game in front of a crowd in 18 months but lost a lead to slip to a 2-1 defeat to energetic AFC Wimbledon.

And Wellens admitted it was far from the reunion he had hoped for.

“The biggest disappointment from me is that we didn’t give the crowd enough to sing about and turn it into an atmosphere that it should have been on the opening day,” he told the Free Press.

“Maybe that gave Wimbledon a bit more freedom to play. They were away first and it could have given them that.

“I think at times we looked really nervous, especially in the first half.”

RECAP: Rovers 1 AFC Wimbledon 2

Rovers looked disjointed throughout the game and lacked control of proceedings.

Wellens fielded ten debutants on the day, including new signings Pontus Dahlberg and Dan Gardner, and feels that played a part in the lack of cohesion.

“At times we did look like a team that was just made up,” he said.

“But we’ll get better and we’ll improve.

“We need to do it quickly. We’re under no illusions that we’re in a tough league and we need to get it right quickly.

“That is the first time that 11 has played together.

“I picked a team on Thursday and then on Friday you’re having to change it because of injury concerns.

“Charlie [Seaman] has done great today but you could see at times that he was a right back playing higher up the pitch.

“Omar Bogle was not even training on Friday because he’s got a slight tear in his calf. Do you want to start with someone with that? No.

“We knew we’d only get 70 minutes out of Tiago because he’s had Covid and he’s trying to get up to speed.

“You want to save some energy for the bench.”

Seaman put Rovers ahead seconds after the break but Wimbledon turned the game on its head through Ayoub Assal and Luke McCormick.

Player ratings: How we judged Rovers’ individual performances against Wimbledon

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