Tommy Rowe reveals major motivating factor in Doncaster Rovers dressing room as survival bid reaches critical point

Tommy Rowe celebrates his equaliser against AFC Wimbledon. Photo: Martin Smith/AHPIX LTD

The 33-year-old midfielder almost single-handedly pulled his side out of a giant hole at AFC Wimbledon at the weekend.

His quickfire second half brace rescued a vital point and kept Rovers’ survival hopes alive.

Rovers have looked doomed to relegation this term but being written off has only served as motivation for Rowe and his colleagues.

“It’s a difficult discussion to have because you’ve created it yourself at times through poor performances,” said Rowe.

“But the fight is there in terms of wanting to prove people wrong.

“I think it goes back to the Sunderland game. That was a big motivation for myself. You hear a lot of whispers and we were alway getting beat in that game. When people have you down it motivates you.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do to get to where we want to get.”

Saturday’s 2-2 draw was the first time this season that Rovers have come from two goals down in a game.

“When you fight back like that in any game you come away feeling better than you would. We’ll take the positives from it.

“Obviously we wanted the three points and we’re still on a mission to collect as many points as we can.

“We’ve not done that [come from behind] for a while so to see that inner strength from the boys and the discipline to dig in was pleasing.

“At times this season we’ve found it hard to get a goal back and to hold it so it was a good outcome for us.”

Rowe certainly proved he was up for the fight against the Dons as his combative approach saw him become a target of some heavy challenges.

“I caused a lot of it myself,” he admitted. “With having a young team you’ve got to set that example in terms of that fight.

“We’d not played the we wanted to but I said to the lads at half time that the fight was the only thing missing. If you have to do it yourself to get the lads going then so be it. There were some tackles going in during that second half and that got me going. It was something we needed.”

Rovers remain four points adrift of safety in League One.

This weekend’s trip to Cheltenham Town is followed by crucial games against relegation rivals Gillingham and Fleetwood Town.