Doncaster Rovers v Charlton Athletic: Manager Grant McCann is embracing Rovers’ role as underdogs

McCann is one of a select band of players to sample play-off glory at three separate venues with three different clubs, having popped open the Champagne corks in his playing days at the Millennium Stadium, Wembley and Old Trafford.

Now the Northern Irishman is pouring all his energies into securing a first cherished promotion triumph as a manager, with Rovers being very much the outsiders as they are pitted against a trio of former top-flight clubs.

The first assignment is against a Charlton Athletic side who have lost once in 15 games, but rather than being fazed by the situation McCann positively embraces it.

“The play-offs can throw up some strange things. In the three times I have been in the play-offs, I was with teams who were not fancied, he added.

“At Cheltenham we won at the Millennium Stadium against Grimsby and were not fancied, while at Scunthorpe we got in on the last day. No one fancied us to beat Millwall at Wembley and we did and there were thousands of Millwall fans there that day.

“At Peterborough we played a Huddersfield team who felt like they had not been beaten in around one hundred games in the way they approached the game. But in a 15-minute spell we won it 3-0. The underdog card suits me fine.”

McCann’s emboldenment is fortified by the way in which his group of players have shown their mettle at various challenging points this season, reacting from disappointment in the best way possible.

“We have got a mentally strong group of players who love to see people writing them off and, hopefully, they have the last laugh,” he added.