'Big learning curve' for promotion-chasing Doncaster Rovers in humbling defeat at Chesterfield

Rovers went into the fixture on the back of four straight wins in League Two that had propelled them up to second and looking primed to reel in leaders Walsall, who at one stage been 12 points clear with that now cut to seven.

But Rovers squandered the chance to eat further into the deficit with a series of defensive mistakes.

Goalkeeper Ted Sharman-Lowe was in two minds about clearing a ball that led to the first for Dylan Duffy, before Bim Pepple got free to prod home the second after a brave header at the far post by Tom Naylor.

The lively Luke Molyneux lashed in a goal right on half-time to give Rovers hope, just moments after Chesterfield goalkeeper Max Thompson had clawed a rebounded effort of his off the line.

But Rovers fell apart in the second half, conceding three more times to Pepple, Michael Olakigbe and Ollie Banks with only a Joe Ironside header as consolation.

Rovers host Crystal Palace in the FA Cup fourth round on Monday night but McCann insisted that glamour tie was not on anyone’s minds.

Explaining the defeat, McCann said: “I think first half we got the press right, we were good against them. Two goals were mistakes from us.

“First one was a breaking ball, flips in behind us, bit of a miscommunication between Jamie (Sterry) thinks Teddy’s (Sharman-Lowe) coming, Teddy thinks Jamie’s dealing with it, neither happens and Teddy slips. There’s not much you can do about that.

“Second one is a set-play and we pride ourselves on that you know, and we do the first bit well. We don’t do the second bit well, we don’t get to the ball and then we don’t pick up.

“We had two really good chances before they scored that we should really score. We came back into the game, we scored a good goal and I’m thinking, ‘hey, we’ll have a good go in the second half, let’s be on the front foot, stay strong, let’s get after them’.

“We went the complete opposite. We didn’t get to the ball, we gave them too much time. For 20 minutes or so they were better than us, way better than us. Again, two goals that we can avoid.

“All in all, it’s a big learning curve for us tonight, it’s one where we need to digest, look at and learn from very, very quickly.”