Doncaster Rovers urged to continue playing with freedom

DONCASTER ROVERS' midfield player Kieran Sadlier insists nerves were not behind this week’s wobble in the race for the play-offs.
Kieran Sadlier: We deserve to be where we are in sixth, says the Doncaster Rovers player. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.Kieran Sadlier: We deserve to be where we are in sixth, says the Doncaster Rovers player. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.
Kieran Sadlier: We deserve to be where we are in sixth, says the Doncaster Rovers player. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.

A shock home defeat to Accrington Stanley for Grant McCann’s men on Tuesday night has given Peterborough United fresh hope.

Three points separate Rovers in sixth from their nearest rivals but Darren Ferguson’s men do have a game in hand. “There is no nerves,” said Sadlier, whose arrival from the bench at half-time against Stanley did at least pep up the hosts. “This is an exciting spot to be in.

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“We should relish that and enjoy it. The gaffer tells us that. In football, you want to be in the play-off spots and not down the bottom, trying to get a win to stay up.

“If you play with a smile on your face, good things will happen on the pitch. The manager has told us to enjoy ourselves and get back to how we were a few games ago.

“Play with freedom, that is what we have to do. There are goals all over this team.”

Rovers travel to Oxford United this weekend, while Posh are at struggling Walsall.

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Then comes Peterborough’s game in hand on Tuesday at Portsmouth before the season draws to a close with Coventry City’s visit to the Keepmoat as London Road plays host to Burton Albion. With Rovers boasting a superior goal difference, two wins should be enough to clinch sixth spot.

“We deserve to be where we are in sixth,” added Sadlier, a January arrival from Cork City. “You can always think we could be higher.

“Tuesday was a frustrating night. We wanted to put another three points on the board. We were not happy but now we have to concentrate on the next game and put this right.

“There are always times when you can look back and see where you could have got points. The focus has to be on the now and these final two games. That is how to nail down that final place in the play-offs. We cannot concentrate on what the other teams around us are doing. Just winning these two games.

“We have got the talent and the players in the team to do that. Just worry about ourselves. If we get six points, we are in the play-offs. It is as simple as that.”