'This is not a relegation squad' - Doncaster Rovers caretaker boss confident players are good enough to stay up

McSheffrey sees his primary task during his tenure as caretaker manager as restoring confidence among the players to get their survival bid up and running.

And he is confident that even without a raft of new additions in January, the squad is strong enough to avoid relegation if a few of the injured players are back available soon.

“It’s just about getting them to believe in themselves more again,” McSheffrey said.

“That’s the biggest thing - self belief, believing in your team mates, staying together.

“It’s my biggest goal in this short term period.

“When there’s a few more additions, even if it’s not everyone being fit, for me it’s not a relegation squad.”

The squad should be bolstered by the returns of Ben Close, Charlie Seaman and Dan Gardner before the end of the year while there has been positive news on Ro-Shaun Williams and Cameron John which suggests both could be back in the fold in January.

In the meantime, McSheffrey is determined to lift the players at his disposal, and believes Tuesday night’s second half performance against on-form Oxford United was a sign of progress ahead of Saturday’s crunch clash with fellow strugglers Shrewsbury Town.

He said: “I think a few really came on and grabbed the game by the scuff of the neck against a really good Oxford team.

“They made them have to up the game in the last five when they got the winner.

“We made them look normal while we were decent. They were normal for long periods in that second half.

“I saw it coming back. The contrast from the first half to the second half was unreal.

“It shows that a couple of things on the pitch and maybe a bit more presence coming off the bench changed things.

“But the self-belief was back and we have to go into Saturday ready to start that way and get it for a longer period - two halves hopefully.

“We’ll be going into the game looking for the three points and I think we’ve got the quality as well.”

The caretaker boss says there is a good mood at Cantley Park at the moment, despite Rovers’ current situation, and he sees that being carried into matches.

“I didn’t overly see it beforehand because we as the U18s are based down at the Keepmoat,” McSheffrey said.

“You hear things, I’ve spoken to some of the senior lads and the boys seem to be in a good place and seem to be a bit more relaxed about things.

“There’s smiles on their faces, which is good feedback.

“They’re enjoying coming into work at the minute.”

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