Doncaster v Crawley: Dickov starting to feel heat as he considers loan moves

Rovers have yet to stabilise in a division they won two seasons ago, with a convincing win at Yeovil one week quickly followed by an embarrassing defensive performance in a collapse at Bristol City the next.

Uncertainty in the boardroom over the summer, which meant an inability to recruit sufficiently, is a mitigating factor but, as they prepare for the first of two home games in four days, Dickov admits he is starting to feel the heat.

Doncaster have yet to win at the Keepmoat Stadium this season and Dickov appreciates the next two games against Crawley tonight and Chesterfield on Saturday could have a significant bearing on the shape of the team going forward.

“The players know with the small squad we’ve got at the minute they are all going to get opportunities to play,” said Dickov, whose side dropped to 19th after a second successive defeat on Saturday.

“What I want them to do is grasp that because over the last two games I’ve not quite seen that.

“They’ve got an opportunity with two home games coming up to show me that they want to be in the team, and force me not to have to go out there and bring somebody else in.

“We’ve not spoken about the loan market at the minute, we’re reasonably happy with the squad we’ve got. But I might tell you differently after the results of the next two games.”

On paper, home appointments with Crawley and Chesterfield are fixtures that a club like Doncaster, after spending two of the last three years in the Championship, would ordinarily expect to win.

But the dips in their start to this season have mainly come at home, with just one point gained from a possible nine.

Mindful of how big a window home games are, and how dwindling attendances due to poor results can affect what he has to work with in the transfer budget, Dickov knows the pressure is intensifying.

“You can’t keep relying on going away from home to win games, so our home form needs to pick up,” he said.

“You feel pressure every game you go into, and I’m not going to lie, we do feel that pressure now.

“We’ve played three games and not won any, and you want your home form to be bang on.

“The one thing I’ll always do, and I still do, is believe in my players.

“We have to start finding a way for when teams stop us playing, we are capable of rolling our sleeves up and scrapping and fighting and showing that desire to get a result and win a different way.

“That’s something we’ve spoken about a lot over the last few weeks.”

That resilience is something he has been drumming into his players since the defensive catastrophe at Ashton Gate on Saturday, when all three goals they conceded could have been avoided.

“We need to get back to basics, to get back to being hard to beat and we need to do that quickly,” he added.

“We have to give ourselves a base to build on and that’s what we’ve been working on...

“Team shape, distances off the ball, getting back to pressing teams, how we want to do it.

“What we need to do is get a bit of consistency back into our play and first and foremost that means being hard to beat.

“But that’s difficult in itself because to be consistent you need to keep a settled team, but with a small squad and the amount of games coming up we’re going to have to rotate.

“It’s a tough ask for everybody to go out there and play to their maximum when they’re playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday which is what we’ve got coming up.

“So it’s a fine line, but we’ll get there. It’s early days but, at the same time, we need to start winning games.

“It was always going to be an up and down season and that won’t change in my mind if we go and win our next two or three games.

“As long as we keep an even keel, that’s important. Let’s not get carried away by being too up or too down.

“We’re only six games in and it’s going to take time for things to happen, but we seem to be going from the sublime to the ridiculous at the minute.”

Dickov, who is juggling a first-team squad of just 20 players, could see resources stretched even further tonight with club captain Rob Jones sent for a scan yesterday to assess the extent of a groin injury.

Summer signing Curtis Main could return, while Harry Forrester is suspended.

Last six games: Doncaster LDWWLL; Crawley LLLWLW.

Referee: E Ilderton (Tyne and Wear).

Last time: Doncaster 0 Crawley 1; League One; August 25, 2012.