Doncaster Rovers 1 Watford 1: Decent result, but shame about the quality of football moans O’Driscoll

Danny Graham’s 20th goal of the season gave the visitors the advantage, but Jason Euell equalised in first-half injury time before the late dismissal of John Eustace.

But while O’Driscoll was quick to praise the effort on show, he could not hide from the fact that the contest lacked quality.

He said: “The game highlighted what’s good and bad about English football in one fell swoop.

“There was fantastic endeavour from both sides who never stopped running, but it was a game of poor quality.

“You have to give credit to the players for their effort but I think both teams would have liked to have passed the ball a bit better.The goal we conceded was poor from our point of view but I thought both teams were always vulnerable to being beaten by one ball over the top.

“I thought we had the better chances to win the game, especially in the second half, but when you lack quality you have to be competitive and at least we had that.”

Watford boss Malky Mackay questioned the decision to send off Eustace, who had already been booked when he was punished for a handball in the 82nd minute.

“I thought the sending off was harsh,” he said. “I’ve seen handball offences that aren’t even punished by a booking and it’s the consistency that you worry about.

“So for somebody to be dismissed in that fashion when it didn’t even prevent a goalscoring attempt was disappointing.

“I’ve got a very young side and they are learning all the time. To get the experience they are having will stand them in good stead for their futures as Watford players.”

Mackay was disappointed his side did not add to their one-goal advantage before allowing Euell to bag his first goal for Rovers.

“I thought we started well and probably should have gone on to score again after taking the lead,” he said. “Obviously we came under pressure when we were down to 10 men but I was delighted by our resilience.”

Doncaster: Gary Woods, Hird, Thomas, Friend, Mills, Oster, Stock, Keegan, Moussa (Wilson 70), Euell, Sharp. Unused substitutes: Bradshaw, Souza, Gillett, Webster, Kilgallon, Shiels.

Watford: Loach, Thompson, Mariappa, Taylor, Hodson, Eustace, McGinn (Drinkwater 37), Cowie, Whichelow, Weimann (Sordell 46), Graham, Drinkwater (Jenkins 61). Unused substitutes: Gilmartin, Deeney, Bryan, Bennett. Eustace, Loach.

Referee: Nigel Miller (Durham).

Man of the match: Jason Euell.