Why midfield role was hardly out of the ordinary for Doncaster Rovers' Brad Halliday

Halliday was moved out of his regular right back role and into a sitting midfield position for Rovers’ FA Cup tie with Blackburn Rovers, and he performed very well in the 1-0 win.

But it turns out Darren Moore had every right to have faith Halliday could handle the switch.

“When I first signed for Middlesbrough I was a centre midfielder but I dropped back in to right back,” he told the Free Press.

“In my two loans, my first one at York and then my one at Accrington, for the same reason, we had a few players missing in midfield and I got moved in there.

“I’ve played a few games in there.

“Against Blackburn, it was enjoyable really.

“It’s not something that I’m used to too often but I have played there earlier on in my career.

“It was nice to have a little run out in there and against a side in Blackburn that has real quality in there. It was a tough game but I thought we did really well.

“It was a more disciplined role for myself, breaking up play and not getting as forward as I would like to but that was because we didn’t have a lot of the ball.

“I thought myself and the team dealt with it really well.”

Other players have switched positions during this season, most notably Reece James, and also Joe Wright and Fejiri Okenabirhie.

Moore has suggested that he could be calling on more players to show their versatility as he looks to navigate Rovers through the busy campaign.

Halliday believes with work done every day on the training ground that everyone in the squad knows each other’s positions and will be able to step in anywhere if required.

“We’ve touched on it before, it’s credit to the team that if someone gets injured then there’s someone to fill in and they know the responsibilities within that role,” the 25-year-old said.

“As you’ve seen throughout the season, Reece James has played in various positions, myself, even Joe Wright going out to right back where he’s never played before. He’s just as good.

“It’s a credit to him and the team because you could ask anyone to go in three and they’d know what to do.

“He’s done great in there and it’s competition for myself.

“It’s strong within the squad that we push each other and drive each other to get the best out of each other.

“With our squad being so small, and you see a few injuries and suspensions take place, people have to stand up and be counted.

“We have a lot of games coming up, Tuesday-Saturday games where fatigue might set in.

“We learn it in training and people might be stepping into the team but maybe not in their most comfortable position but they need to do a job for the team.

“So far this season, we’ve done that.”

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