‘You can’t fault him’ – Josh Sims on Andy Butler and Doncaster Rovers’ decline in form

The 24-year-old had an enforced break from the Keepmoat over the past month as he returned to parent club Southampton for treatment on a niggling injury.

During that time Rovers suffered three consecutive defeats, and have followed up with two more since Sims’ return.

Despite being able to take a step back from things, as well as being able to reflect on any changes during his time away, the winger says it is incredibly difficult to say exactly what is causing Rovers’ run of form, which has seen them lose 11 of their last 16 matches.

“I wouldn’t say there was anything I could put my finger on as that is why things have gone wrong, or that has changed.

“Obviously we’re in a difficult situation now and there could be a million reasons why.

“But there’s nothing for me that I’ve seen and thought ‘I think that is why we’re where we’re at right now.’

“It’s a difficult run and sometimes it’s hard to get out of that.

“Maybe on break, a point or a victory, it could soon change things and we could be back to winning ways.

“It’s really frustrating because of how well we were doing before.

“I’m sure it’s difficult for fans and everyone that is part of the club to be in the situation where we were doing so well, to now.

“It’s frustrating me as a player as well because we were hoping for automatic promotion and doing really good things this season.

“There’s still time, there’s still enough games for us to do something good this season so we cannot get too bogged down in things like that.

“We need to make the most out of this season while we still can.”

It has proven to be a difficult tenure for Andy Butler as Rovers boss. After winning his first two matches, Rovers have taken only two points from the following nine matches.

Sims believes the Rovers players need to take responsibility for the slump, and says they have been given everything they need to succeed by their manager.

“He’s come into a side when, and you look back to the old manager, we went on a bit of a bad run,” he said.

“It’s his first job and it must be difficult for him because he’s had no other experience in being in this situation.

“I think it’s us as players ultimately.

“Everything he’s done, you can’t fault him. For me as a player, you can’t fault him.

“On the training ground, he does everything that we need him to do. We work on us as players, work on other teams, we go through all the clips.

“He doesn’t leave any stone unturned in that way.

“I think us as players are letting him down at the moment.”

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