Richie Wellens sets Doncaster Rovers target in run up to January

Rovers return from the international break sitting second bottom in League One, three points from safety.

Wellens believes January will be a big month for Rovers with the opening of the transfer window enabling him to add to his squad.

And with eight games to go until the new year, the Rovers boss is desperate to ensure his side are in a good position to pull away from danger in the second half of the season.

“Stay in the pack,” he said when asked about his hopes for the rest of 2021.

“We’ll improve massively in January with the bodies that we get in and we’ll obviously have injured players back.

“We need to dig in and fight.

“We want to be out of the relegation zone but we need to be around the eight or so teams that there’s a separate league table for.

“We’ve had a shocking run but we’re not cut adrift.

“And we should have had more points than what we have.

“We’d have had a hell of a lot more points if we’d have defended set pieces.

“We need to be better at that - more manly, more aggressive, better communication.

“If we get that we’ll stop conceding goals from set pieces which will give us more of a foothold in games and we’ll pick up more points.”

Rovers begin their run up to Christmas with Saturday’s home game against last season’s beaten play-off finalists Lincoln City.

While the much-changed Imps have not matched their excellent form of last term, results have picked up recently and they are on a run of only one defeat in six league matches.

Wellen said: “They’re very similar to last season but probably not quite as dynamic.

“Someone like a Chris Maguire who is a very good footballer if you stand off him and he’s got really good quality but he’s probably not as lively as a Jorge Grant.

“Anthony Scully is injured as well and he’s a really good player for them.

“They’re a really good team but probably a bit different within the framework.

“They’re were really good last year and unfortunate not to go up.

“They’ve lost all their best players, who were loan players. He’s not quite on a total rebuild but he’s on a rebuild where loan players are the bedrock of the team, you can’t keep unearthing diamonds.

“He’s done a great job after a tough start to the season. They’ve got good players and a good manager so they’re a threat.

“But we’re at home and we expect to win the game.”

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