Doncaster Rovers boss has mixed emotions on early finish

DARREN MOORE is secure in the knowledge that his Doncaster Rovers side had a ‘strong and successful’ League One campaign – but he has also professed to mixed feelings.

Unsurprisingly, third-tier clubs took the sensible decision to vote to end their season by an 18-4 majority at the EFL’s extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday, with the financial ramifications of Covid-19 meaning that few could afford to play on.

Unweighted points-per-game dictated that Rovers would finish in ninth place – after a flirtation with the play-offs – a solid achievement for a club plainly in transition, although Moore admits to one sense of ‘if only’.

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The Rovers manager commented: “It has been a solid campaign and that is testament to everyone at the football club as there has been setbacks along the way.

Doncaster Rovers manager Darren Moore.Doncaster Rovers manager Darren Moore.
Doncaster Rovers manager Darren Moore.

“But the way we have responded as a club has been excellent and I have enjoyed this season because of the way everyone has galvanised and worked together.

“It is something to build on going forward. Initially, when the season ends, was I pleased? Yes. Am I satisfied? No. Because there’s always work to improve and we will continue to do that.

“Who knows if we could have finished the games where we would have been and we were certainly in form at the time.

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“We had a relatively fully fit squad and it had all the signs of a strong and successful campaign. It is gutting to (not) see where we could finish.”

With a host of players out of contract, Moore’s attentions will turn to the future with the Rovers manager to meet the club hierarchy for talks next week.

He added: “I am not meeting with the chairman and the CEO until next week. I have spoken to the clubs who gave us all the loan players and the next thing is about speaking to players out of contract and settling them down and sitting tight for the next week or two and then see where we can come from.

“The chairman will give me the parameters of where the club is at and what we have got to work with.”

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