Doncaster Rovers 1 Crawley Town 1: '˜Raw deal' from players frustrates boss Darren Ferguson

The game may have brought Rovers’ first point of the season, but Ferguson was critical of a lack of “energy and tempo” from his players in the opening 45 minutes.

Thankfully, James Coppinger’s 49th-minute equaliser cancelled out James Collins’s first half tap-in and it was the home side who came closest to grabbing a winner after the break – John Marquis heading just over the bar from the corner, while Andy Williams twice went close in the closing minutes.

Coppinger also went close late on with a free-kick, but Ferguson made no excuses afterwards.

“The way the game went, in terms of the first half, I suppose I’ll have to be happy with a point,” said the Rovers boss. “It was a great start to the second half and Copps gets us back in the game.

“We had opportunities to go and win it but we didn’t.

“The first half was a difficult one to describe really, it was lacking any real energy and tempo –most unlike one of my teams to be honest.

“We didn’t start the game well and people got frustrated and let it affect their game. People kept making the same mistakes.

“I’ll accept mistakes made by my players but I won’t accept the lack of energy and tempo in the first half. That was really noticeable by myself. The players know themselves that they are giving me a raw deal if they play like they did in the first half.”

Doncaster Rovers: Etheridge, Wright (Garrett 46), Butler, Mason (Lund 57), Blair, Rowe, Coppinger, Houghton, Calder (Mandeville 67), Marquis, Williams. Unused substitutes: Beestin, Marosi, Middleton, Evina.

Crawley Town: Mersin, Young, McNerney, Davey, Blackman, Boldewijn, Smith, Payne, Clifford (Bawling 70), Banton (Yorwerth 78), Collins (Harrold 82). Unused substitutes:Tajbakhsh ,Beeney, Arthur, Pappoe.

Referee: Brett Huxtable (Devon).