Doncaster Rovers v Portsmouth: O’Driscoll hopes two-way gamble will pay off

Championship: DONCASTER Rovers manager Sean O’Driscoll has described the decision to keep captain Brian Stock as a ‘gamble’.The Welsh international midfield player agreed a new two-and-a-half-year deal with Rovers this week, ending months of uncertainty over his future.He had previously rejected offers from Rovers and his possible availablity as a free agent next summer had alerted a number of rival clubs.But Stock, 29, has also been hampered by back trouble over the last two years and started his first game for over a month in last weekend’s defeat at Millwall.O’Driscoll, speaking ahead of today’s game with Portsmouth, stressed that Rovers had lost other important players under freedom of contract in the past few years and failed to find adequate replacements.“It’s a gamble but if we had offered him anything less, I think he would have waited until the end of the season to see what sort of options he would get. He had tentative enquiries from a number of clubs and no one is going to sign him on a one-year contract – the least he could have expected from another club was two years.“We have lost players in the past,” he added. “People think you can just go out and replace them but you can’t – Richie Wellens, Matthew Mills, Jason Shackell. In hindsight, if we had tried to keep those players we would be in a much better position. “You have to respect the player’s point of view as well as the club’s and we try to do that and come to an agreement that suits both parties. I think Brian would have liked a longer contract but we were not in a position to do that.“This is a step in the right direction but we have to balance the books,” said O’Driscoll. “It is no good having players you can’t afford because sooner or later the club suffers. It’s a balancing act but the club has trod very carefully and will have to continue to do that.”Rovers have won just once in eight games since New Year’s Day but have been struggling with injuries, particularly in

The Welsh international midfield player agreed a new two-and-a-half-year deal with Rovers this week, ending months of uncertainty over his future.

He had previously rejected offers from Rovers and his possible availablity as a free agent next summer had alerted a number of rival clubs.

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But Stock, 29, has also been hampered by back trouble over the last two years and started his first game for over a month in last weekend’s defeat at Millwall.

O’Driscoll, speaking ahead of today’s game with Portsmouth, stressed that Rovers had lost other important players under freedom of contract in the past few years and failed to find adequate replacements.

“It’s a gamble but if we had offered him anything less, I think he would have waited until the end of the season to see what sort of options he would get. He had tentative enquiries from a number of clubs and no one is going to sign him on a one-year contract – the least he could have expected from another club was two years.

“We have lost players in the past,” he added. “People think you can just go out and replace them but you can’t – Richie Wellens, Matthew Mills, Jason Shackell. In hindsight, if we had tried to keep those players we would be in a much better position.

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“You have to respect the player’s point of view as well as the club’s and we try to do that and come to an agreement that suits both parties. I think Brian would have liked a longer contract but we were not in a position to do that.

“This is a step in the right direction but we have to balance the books,” said O’Driscoll. “It is no good having players you can’t afford because sooner or later the club suffers. It’s a balancing act but the club has trod very carefully and will have to continue to do that.”

Rovers have won just once in eight games since New Year’s Day but have been struggling with injuries, particularly in defence.

O’Driscoll’s options have improved thanks to the return to fitness of Matthew Kilgallon, Wayne Thomas and Joseph Mills while goalkeeper Neil Sullivan hopes to return after missing the last two games with a shin problem.

Striker Waide Fairhurst has joined Hereford United on a one-month loan deal.