The frightening and damning statistic which raises questions about Doncaster Rovers' mentality

When Doncaster Rovers fall behind in a game, almost by rule, they do not recover.

So the moment Reeco Hackett opened the scoring for Portsmouth you could perhaps be forgiven for switching off the wireless, logging out of Twitter or even hitting the road.

Because the final outcome, yet another defeat, felt somewhat inevitable. Another hefty defeat too.

In 23 games this season, in all competitions, Rovers have conceded the first goal.

On just THREE of those occasions have they avoided defeat.

They fought back twice in the space of seven days to claim 1-1 draws against Cambridge United and Crewe under previous boss Richie Wellens.

And the only time they have came from behind to win this season was against Manchester City’s U21s in the Papa John’s Trophy.

That speaks volumes.

In the five league games under Gary McSheffrey in which Rovers have scored first they have ended up winning three of them, against Shrewsbury Town, MK Dons and Sunderland.

That at least indicates that this team are capable of scrapping when they have something to protect. It’s not a complete lost cause.

But since McSheffrey took charge they have lost each and every one of the eight league games in which they have conceded first, which again tells its own story.

Ultimately the bigger picture here is that Rovers have now lost 14 of their last 17 games. Relegation feels inevitable.

Despite the arrival of some new players in January, free of any mental baggage, a losing mentality has well and truly set in at the club over the course of the last 12 months.

This current Rovers team are now being kicked while they are down, so to speak. They have taken hit after hit after hit and they seemingly have precious little left to give when the going gets tough.

Every now and again they swing a wild punch and it connects, giving them brief hope of a miraculous recovery.

But then along comes another big blow to leave them back on the canvas begging for mercy.

Rovers are clearly wounded physically and mentally. Hovering above them, the referee is ready to wave off the fight.

Unless they can muster some inner strength from somewhere the knockout blow is just around the corner.

Wellens v McSheffrey

Rovers under Wellens in League One: P19 W3 D4 L12 F11 A34 Pts 13 PPG 0.68

Rovers under McSheffrey in League One: P13 W3 D0 L10 F11 A29 Pts 9 PPG 0.69