Darren Moore hopeful of new Doncaster Rovers signings 'in next few days'

Moore, whose side bowed out of the FA Cup with a comprehensive 4-0 loss at a strong West Ham side, is now switching his attentions to League One matters, with Rovers having enjoyed an outstanding first half of the campaign to propel themselves into the promotion reckoning.

To give themselves the best chance of doing that, reinforcements are likely to be needed, with Rovers naming just seven substitutes in their Cup tie at the London Stadium.

On the prospect of new arrivals, Moore said: “We are really hopeful that we can add a couple because we need to try and get them in quicker to get them settled into the squad. Hopefully, fingers crossed, we can add in a couple in the next few days.”

Rovers were eased aside by a dominant West Ham side in their fourth-round tie, with an early goal after just 130 seconds from Pablo Fornals putting the in-form hosts on their way to a fifth successive victory in the new year.

Andriy Yarmolenko added a second just after the half hour following a mistake by Andy Butler with the veteran defender then putting through his own net in the second half as the Hammers laid siege.

A late goal from debutant substitute Oladapo Afolayan completed the scoring as Rovers’ cup run ended, with Moore admitting his side were handed a ‘massive lesson’ by an excellent Hammers side.

Moore added: “We are on a journey and have made huge strides, but this will have been a massive lesson for us in terms of getting better.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb after the first few minutes. What the players will have learnt is that - coming up against that quality of opposition - our game had to be more safe and secure in terms of possession of the ball and using it better.

“The first couple of goals were mistakes by ourselves and ultimately, we got punished by the real quality of opposition we were up against.

“The boys grew into the game, but by the time we did that, the game was away from us, really. That was a disappointment.

“The players will have learned about the speed and effectiveness of the quality of opposition and closing us down. I just thought we were a bit loose with our touches.

“There were times in the game where we did get it together and play through them and got into the final third, but there is lots for us to learn.”