Doncaster Rovers goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell believes fans will keep the faith after Boxing Day knockout

Their Boxing Day fixture saw them beaten 3-0 at a Tranmere Rovers side who had not won any of their previous 10 matches. Now the two sides are only a point apart.

Unsurprisingly, that led to frustration amongst those who wasted their St Stephen's Day travelling to the Wirral to watch that. Boos from the away end at full-time prompted an angry reaction from centre-back Tom Anderson.

It makes the prospect of playing in front of their own supporters in the next two games – against Rochdale on Thursday and Carlisle United on Sunday – uncomfortable, but goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell hopes enough still have faith in coach Danny Schofield.

In the cold light of day, footballers know supporters are perfectly entitled to voice their frustrations, particularly with the way things have been going at Doncaster.

"It was right we were booed, it wasn't good enough," admitted Mitchell. "There is a period of transition, I suppose, but we know we need to be better than that."

A miserable end to 2020-21 under caretaker manager Andy Butler bled into the following campaign, and neither Richie Wellens nor his successor Gary McSheffrey could stop the team dropping into League Two. McSheffrey was sacked for a poor start to this season and for all that Schofield is playing brighter football, Rovers are 13th.

A team expected to challenge for promotion has 10 points from his eight league matches, and were knocked out of the FA Cup by King's Lynn Town.

Having began the season at Huddersfield Town, Schofield's personal record is played 18, won four, lost 12. But Mitchell hopes fans appreciate what he is trying to do.

"I think a lot of the fans can see where we're going and how we're trying to play, the philosophy we're trying to build," he said. "A lot of people are on board with that.

"We know they're a great set of fans and they'll stick by us. Hopefully they're still buying into our philosophy and the way we want to play and we'll get better at that.

"We need to defend the box better and start creating a bit more."

Rovers will assess if Tommy Rowe is fit to return.