Doncaster Rovers 0 Leicester City 1: Doncaster are frozen out by solitary strike

Manager Sean O'Driscoll has avoided any talk of pushing for the Premier League, insisting that survival is still the club's top priority.

Yet if Rovers had beaten Leicester City last night and Queens Park Rangers last weekend, they would have been just two points off the play-off zone this morning.

Martyn Waghorn's 12th-minute goal inflicted a second consecutive defeat on Rovers last night and makes the task of getting up even harder.

With 13 games to play, Rovers are now nine points adrift of sixth-placed Cardiff City who were leapfrogged by Leicester thanks to this victory.

Play-off qualification is maybe just too much to ask this season but that is nowhere near a failure given the fact that Rovers have not been this high in the Football League for over 50 years.

O'Driscoll handed a first start to Jordan Mutch who had been used only as a substitute since arriving on loan from Birmingham City a month ago.

The teenager had big boots to fill in the absence of captain Brian Stock and was also up against former Rovers favourite Richie Wellens – making his first return to the Keepmoat Stadium – in the centre of the park.

After describing his side's weekend performance against Queens Park Rangers as 'awful', O'Driscoll also recalled fit again defender Gareth Roberts and striker Dean Shiels with Sam Hird and James Hayter dropping to the bench.

Veteran winger Nolberto Solano, back in English football after a two-year absence, made his first start for Leicester since arriving last month on a short-term contract.

The Peruvian was soon involved, hitting an early freekick against Rovers' defensive wall then laying on an opportunity for Danny N'Guessan which brought a fine save from Neil Sullivan.

It took 12 minutes for Rovers to test Leicester goalkeeper Chris Weale – just moments later, the visitors took the lead.

Having saved a routine header from Mutch, Weale started a counter-attack that caught Rovers napping. Leicester striker Waghorn, on loan from Sunderland, had too much pace for Roberts and gave Sullivan no chance with his finish.

Although it took Rovers time to settle, they were incensed when a possible chance to equalise was cynically denied.

Leicester defender Bruno Berner appeared to be the last man as he hacked down Billy Sharp to concede a free-kick but referee Andy Woolmer opted only to show a yellow card.

While snow blew around the stadium throughout the night, it failed to settle on a Keepmoat pitch that lacked undersoil heating yet still looked in decent shape despite the inclement weather both on the eve of the game and in previous weeks.

Rovers are in the minority of teams in the Championship who rely on an even surface to play their most effective football and, while Leicester were more often tempted to knock it long, O'Driscoll's side gamely tried to stick to their fluid passing style.

Wellens turned a deaf ear to an early salute from the Rovers faithful and was relatively anonymous in the first half other than to test Sullivan with a low shot from 25 yards. It may or may not say something about a side's make-up but Nigel Pearson's Foxes saw no need for gloves in the freezing temperatures – unlike Rovers who had five players worried about getting cold fingers.

With the snow getting heavier, the interval had seen the introduction of bright yellow balls to assist visibility.

Rovers pushed for the equaliser and Sharp flashed a shot inches wide.

Kevin Blackwell, the manager of Sharp's permanent employers Sheffield United, looked on from the stands in his role as a summariser for a national radio station. Blackwell, who has deemed Sharp surplus to requirements, is not about to drag the striker away from his spell down the M18 but will have made plenty of notes about Rovers ahead of next month's meeting between the South Yorkshire neighbours at Keepmoat.

As Rovers enjoyed a spell of pressure, both Coppinger and Roberts were denied by goalkeeper Weale.

Sullivan was on his toes to push away a drive from Leicester substitute Nicky Adams but Rovers had looked the stronger side towards the end.

Doncaster Rovers: Sullivan; Chambers, O'Connor, Ward, Roberts; Wilson (Guy 82); Shiels (Hayter 45), Oster, Mutch (Spicer 82), Coppinger; Sharp. Unused substitutes: Hird, Smith, Dumbuya.

Leicester City: Weale; Morrison, Hobbs, Brown, Berner; Solano (Adams 60), Wellens, King Dyer; Waghorn, N'Guessan (Gallagher 60). Unused substitutes: McGivern, Howard, Logan, Kermorgant, Bruce.

Referee: KA Woolmer (Northamptonshire).