Dickov refusing to relax as Rovers edge towards safety

Chris Brown’s first-half goal proved to be the difference between the South Yorkshire pair at a packed Keepmoat Stadium and complete a Championship double for Rovers over their illustrious neighbours.

You have to go back to 2008 for the last time the Owls beat Rovers, and it is 10 years since victory on away soil, a Steve MacLean hat-trick in a 4-0 win at Belle Vue.

So with Doncaster still looking anxiously over their shoulders at the drop zone, the arrival of Wednesday was probably just the tonic for Rovers.

And Dickov revealed he even gave his squad a couple of days off before the match to rest, hoping to capitalise on Wednesday’s recent gruelling fixture run which had seen them play five games in 15 days, most recently back-to-back wins over Birmingham City and QPR.

The Rovers boss rejected the notion that, with the Owls secure in mid-table, his Rovers side simply wanted the three points more.

“I think that’s being slightly disrespectful to Stuart (Gray) and his team,” said Dickov. “On purpose this week, we took the workload off the players, gave them a couple of days off – which I was loathe to do.

“We knew that Wednesday were playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. We had the chance to get some rest in the players with the view to them working their socks off for 95 minutes.

“I don’t think we wanted it more, maybe the game midweek might have caught up with Sheffield Wednesday a little bit.”

Doncaster’s win came on an afternoon when all five clubs below them in the Championship dropped points.

South Yorkshire rivals Barnsley crashed to a stoppage-time defeat to Bournemouth at Oakwell, which keeps the Tykes at the foot of the table. Birmingham City, Charlton and Millwall all lost, while Yeovil Town let a 2-0 lead slip to draw 2-2 with Bolton.

“Are we safe? No we are not. It was only back at the end of January when we were seven or eight points clear, and within a couple of weeks we were back in the bottom three,” added Dickov. “We know that we can still get sucked back into relegation trouble, but there’s a real determination for that not to happen now.”

Victory extended an impressive Keepmoat run which means Doncaster have not lost at home since Boxing Day, and after a 5-0 thrashing at Bournemouth, Rovers have picked up three wins and draw in their last four matches.

“There was a lot of harsh words said afterwards. But it’s not just that, we have players back fit, back from suspension. I think that’s the first time I have been able to pick a team consistently for three games for the first time this season.

“Today was difficult, because Wednesday are in good form, a difficult side to play against, and put you under lots of pressure.

“What the win does do is takes the pressure off us a little bit. But that doesn’t mean we take the foot off the gas.

“I still believe there’s more to come from the team. Confidence is growing because we are picking up results.”

In a scrappy derby game, chances were at a premium, and an horrendous miss from on-loan striker Leon Best at 0-0 was key for Owls boss Gray.

Left-back Jeremy Helan raced down the flank before finding Best free in front of goal, but somehow contrived to poke the ball wide.

It was a miss which would prove costly, as Billy Sharp’s effort was blocked by Owls goalkeeper Chris Kirkland only for the lurking Brown to tap the ball home.

“When you are on top you have to score,” said Gray. “I thought for the first 20 minutes we have dominated possession, had a great chance with Leon Best to put us in front.

“It just felt like one of those games that whoever scored first would win the game. It was a bobbly pitch, not the best football spectacle, we didn’t pass it as well as we have in the past.

“I was disappointed when we got into some areas, our crossing was poor, our shooting was poor. We thought Brown was offside for the goal. Billy Sharp had the shot, but we felt Brown was in an offside position.

“We looked straightaway at the linesman, but he kept his flag down. Maybe they got a little bit of a break. But then it was just a case of far too many boys having an off day.”

Match report: Page 2.