Doncaster Rovers 0 Shrewsbury Town 1: Darren Ferguson bemoans team's failure to sustain '˜90-minute performance'

Doncaster Rovers' manager Darren Ferguson says his side paid the maximum price for not scoring when they were in the ascendancy against Shrewsbury Town.

“It was a really disappointing result in what we knew was a huge game,” said Ferguson.

“In the first half we were good. We just probably needed that goal and to go ahead.

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“The momentum shifted a little bit at the start of the second half and they started to win more second balls. We were dominant in the first half, but the goal we conceded (to Shaun Whalley on 62 minutes) on was awful.

“The start of the second half was not what I wanted because they came out with a clear intent to start doing the nitty gritty.

“We were doing that side of it well, we were aggressive and we were the dominant team. We needed to really score in the first half. Having said that, if we’d performed like we did in the first half in the second half we probably would’ve won it.

“We’re finding it difficult to sustain a 90-minute performance at the moment.”

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Ferguson stood by his decision to leave top scorer Andy Williams on the bench. He said: “Andy’s fully aware that he’s lacking a bit of confidence at the moment.

“I picked a team that was young and full of energy and we showed that in the first half. I thought we were really good. (Lynden) Gooch, in particular, was a real handful for them. Riccardo [Calder] did well. Given the circumstances, with it being his debut, I thought his temperament was good.”

Doncaster Rovers: Stuckmann, Lund, Alcock, Butler, Taylor-Sinclair (Evina 76), Gooch, McCullough, Grant, Calder (Stewart 84), Mandeville (Williams 61), Tyson. Unused substitutes: MacKenzie, Keegan, Middleton, Jones.

Shrewsbury: Leutwiler, Grimmer, Whitbread (Smith 27), Knight-Percival, Brown, Clark, Ogogo, Black (Wellens 75), Mangan (KaiKai 64), Whalley, Vassell. Unused substitutes: Vernon, Halstead, Akpa Akpro, Cole.

Referee: Phil Gibbs (West Midlands).