Doncaster Rovers v Oldham: Rovers determined to give Jones lift-off

Jones stepped up as caretaker-manager last week after Paul Dickov was sacked.

Jones’s first game in charge was a harsh 2-0 loss at Walsall, both goals coming in the last five minutes, and he is expected to stay in charge for a while.

Applications for the job – which was advertised this week – close next Friday.

Centre-back Jones has refused to come out and state he wants the job but he is a popular figure with both fans and in the dressing room.

Rovers defender Gary Mackenzie said training under Jones this week has been attack-minded, as they seek to bounce back after narrow away defeats to Gillingham and Walsall.

“It’s been good, he (Jones) has been intense,” said Mackenzie. “Stating what he wants to try and add, which is not a million miles different from what we were doing. We need to try and cause the opposition more problems and create more chances.

“With the players we have got, we should be causing other teams more problems. I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing or belief, we just need a spark or decent result to get us going. Walsall was very similar to the Gillingham game, I don’t think we deserved to lose.

“We lost a controversial goal down at Gillingham, then to defend so well as a team for 85 minutes only to shoot yourself in the foot by making two basic errors, kind of kills you. The second goal was another mistake, but he was clearly offside.

“Things just don’t seem to be going for us, but you can see we are trying hard, defending well, are organised and are, making it difficult for the other teams,” added the 29-year-old, who had a spell on loan at Bradford last season.