BACK in the late winter of 2024, a seminal moment in a Doncaster Rovers season took place in south-west London.

It was played out at Sutton United in February of that year.

Rovers, then looking over their shoulders towards the bottom of the EFL, chiselled out a late point against a fellow struggler and it proved the catalyst to a remarkable charge up the League Two table.

In the present, how Rovers - winless in their past seven matches in all competitions - could do with something to change the narrative in the division above at nearby AFC Wimbledon after a tough start to 2026-27.

Doncaster Rovers manager Grant McCann urges on his players in Tuesday's EFL Trophy game against Huddersfield Town. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

placeholder image — Doncaster Rovers manager Grant McCann urges on his players in Tuesday's EFL Trophy game against Huddersfield Town. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

For his part, Grant McCann is not one for panicking and feels that there's plenty of reasons why no-one else should.

He said: "The easiest thing to do is throw your toys out of the pram and scrap everything and do something completely different.

"But the best thing to do is to stay calm and believe in what we are and be true to ourselves and that's what we'll do.

"I think the most important thing is to stay calm inside our building.

Doncaster Rovers defender James Husband. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

"We've got to keep reiterating the positives and the good bits to the players because it's so easy for me to just try and point at every little mistake and go 'that's your fault'.

"It's not; we win and lose and draw together in this football club.

"We all want results. We're all hurting at this moment in time, everybody's hurting.

"But we know that we have to continue to believe in what we are and what we certainly have done at this club since we've been here."

McCann also feels that several reasons explain why Rovers are still finding their feet this season, with the assimilation of a number of new players - and the time that takes—being chief among them.

He added: "We've got (new) players in the building who are taking a wee bit of time to get up to speed fitness-wise and players coming back from injury.

"These are not excuses by the way but it's just facts. I don't want to be sitting here thinking I'm making excuses for results, I'm not, I'm not that type of person but it's just facts really.

"It's lovely to have Matty Pearson and James Husband back. Tom Nixon and Jamie Sterry are close, so they'll be a huge boost for us and then there's the likes of Tommi O'Reilly, Jordan Thomas and Isaac Hutchinson.

"They're going to take time (to grow)."