This is what Richie Wellens said about Doncaster Rovers' trialists

Wellens invited around half a dozen players to join training with the Rovers squad this week to bolster numbers and cast his eye over the free agents.

Speaking to the Free Press on Thursday, the Rovers boss said the players had some work to do in order to convince him they were worthy of a longer stay at Cantley Park and, potentially, a contract.

“I spoke to the trialists before they came here and said don’t come here to try to keep fit - you’re here for a job,” he said.

“The way I’m looking at a trialist is, and this is just the nature of the business, when they come in the answer is always a no. When they first come through the door it’s a no.

“So they have to do something really good and open our eyes so we think ‘we need to take this lad.’

“A lot of trialists come in and go through the motions and it gets to the end of five days and you have to say there’s no job for them, they’ll feel really disappointed and probably drive home thinking they didn’t give it everything in terms of getting their character out and showing on the pitch what they can do.

“The trialists have got some work to do before the weekend to convince us to give them a contract.”

Wellens said his training sessions at the end of this week will involve match-like situations which will give the trialists a fresh opportunity to show their abilities.

“We’d had a lot of short, sharp stuff over the first few days and now we’re going to open it up,” he said.

“You get some professional footballers who are really comfortable in tight spaces and some that aren’t, but when the pitch opens up they can show their athleticism in more of a match situation.

“We’ll open up in the next few.”

Wellens plans to invite a fresh batch of trialists into training next week as he gears up for the first friendly at Rossington Main next weekend.

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